Sport

32 Sport

The Preparatory School provides a wide range of sporting opportunities for our students. The emphasis is on opportunity, giving the students the chance to participate and compete. Sport is a very important co-curricular area as in many cases it allows students to be part of a team and develop several important skills that may transfer into other areas of their lives. The Preparatory School sports programme aims to provide:

Physical Benefits • improved fitness, strength, flexibility, and co-ordination; • increased range of motor skills.

Social Benefits • improved communication and interpersonal skills; • improved leadership and co-operation skills; • opportunity for lasting friendships; • increased interest in accepting responsibility; • ability to assume responsible risk-taking. Personal Benefits • enjoyment; • increased self-esteem, selfconfidence, and general well-being; • improved ability to concentrate; • self-discipline, commitment, and responsibility; • organisational skills.

Cricket continued to be a popular summer sport option at St Andrew’s College. There were strong participation numbers in Years 5–8. The First XI was very competitive in the CJCA Saturday Premier Competition and was a top four team. The team did not progress beyond the pool stages of the Christchurch leg of the New Zealand Cup. We also fielded a girls’ team in the New Zealand Shield for a second year running. This year the team finished runners-up in both the Christchurch tournament and the Canterbury tournament, one game from making the top six in New Zealand. A great achievement, and already there are several girls wishing to play in 2020. We have a strong cohort of Year 5–6 players

coming through. An area for further development is our Year 1–4 students.

The 2019 Australian tour was another big success, the games were competitive, the whole tour ran very smoothly, and we were supported by a large parent group of over 40 parents and siblings. The students conducted themselves with distinction. It was our first tour to the Sunshine Coast, and this ensures we can provide a varied experience for students who tour in both Years 7–8. All four rugby games were separated by less than a try and we made positive connections with three new schools who are keen to host us again in the future. We will return to the Gold Coast in 2020.

We also sent students to the AIMS Games in Tauranga. 2019 was our biggest team of athletes. As well as boys’ and girls’ hockey teams, and netball, we also entered golf, tennis, and swimming. Over 11,000 athletes, 350+ schools competed. The Girls’ First XI hockey won a bronze medal, our first at the games, and Hayden Lam won a bronze medal for golf. Our tennis players also all finished in the top 32, with our top finish at eighth. In the doubles our Year 7 pairing in the girls’ doubles finished fourth. Already we have confirmed the teams again for 2020, however, it is unlikely we will have a Boys’ 11 a-side team, instead we may send a 6 a-side team. Another remarkable experience, and the students were very well supported by the seven staff that accompanied and took care of them. The relationship with Heaton Normal Intermediate School continued to be productive during 2019 and we shared resources effectively. We provided training facilities for cricket and hockey and in turn Heaton allowed us to use their grounds for rugby and athletics training. We also provided teams to help prepare their students for tournaments. This relationship is essential to ensure we can offer enough training facilities and preparation games for our students and teams.

Several school exchange games in basketball, rugby, football, netball,

cricket, and hockey were played during the year including the visit of Anglican Church Grammar School (Brisbane), The Southport School (Gold Coast), Wellesley College (Wellington), Medbury School, Waihi School, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, St Margaret’s College, and Selwyn House School. School exchanges are limited to Year 7–8 students and are generally played during Core Skills on Wednesday. This has vastly reduced the disruption of academic classes and the cost of organising relief teachers.

Many of our students represented their region in a variety of sports and were successful in the ISSA and CPSSA competitions in triathlon, duathlon, cross country, swimming, and athletics. There were also several students who represented both zones and Canterbury in cricket, basketball, hockey, and tennis. Football, rugby, and netball no longer offer representative games for intermediate aged students. Our Senior Preparatory School netball team won the ISSA Winter Tournament and were the CPSSA champions for 2019. The football team finished second in the ISSA Tournament and third in the CPSSA Football Tournament. The boys’ tennis team and the girls’ tennis team were also crowned CPSSA champions for 2019. Our mixed A ski team won the ISSA ski race. Our second team, who finished second, included a student from Year 1, Luke Russell. Leadership opportunities are very important for our Year 8 students. Sport captains must apply for positions and are then interviewed for the role. It is a great opportunity for students to become familiar with an interview process. The role as a sport captain is important as they report back to the community, make speeches, support the sport co-ordinators, and fulfil other tasks. The students embraced the opportunity. The role of House captain is also an important role as House captains organise House events and help to create a positive environment for their House. House captains are selected by Year 8 teachers and the aim in 2020 is to do this promptly to enable better planning for the year ahead.

In 2019, Year 8 coaches were well utilised in both netball and cricket. Many students offered to support Mrs Fitzgerald’s Years 1–3 netball programme. A number of First XI cricket players were assigned to support coaches of the other year groups. This was successful and the Year 8 student support was effective. Further coach development options for Year 8 students will be made available in 2020 including some onsite development with professional coaches from the various codes.

Coaching is an area that is essential to a successful sporting programme at St Andrew’s College. During 2019, we presented to Year 13 students regarding

the opportunities available to them in 2020, particularly coaching Preparatory School teams. Several students, who will study in Canterbury, expressed an interest in coaching. This involvement will support the staff coaches at the school. We also engaged Coaching Solutions and Motivationz who provided excellent coaching support. Some of our coaches were involved in the Core Sport programme. Sport coaching development opportunities will be made available to staff in 2020.

Core Sports continued to go from strength to strength. The Core Sport programme was used in Term 1 for team selections, giving students more opportunity to impress. More professional coaches were also used to support better student/coach ratios and therefore a more effective quality of coaching. In Term 1, students selected their winter sports and had a variety of high-performance coaches in their field. From Term 3, summer sports were selected, and high-performance training provided. This was integral to the success of the Girls’ hockey team at the AIMS Games, and the First XI cricket team.

A survey for students was conducted at the end of the year and the general feedback was very positive.

In Term 3, Year 1–3 students travelled to Olympia for the gymnastics programme. This provided an improved programme

and was not weather dependent. However, the programme was not as differentiated as expected and therefore in 2020 the gymnastics programme will head to the new Christchurch School of Gymnastics facility. The Year 4–6 students will travel to Christchurch School of Gymnastics for their five-week gymnastics programme in Term 2. Year 7 students will also have a five-week programme in Term 2 and Year 8 students, a four-week programme in Term 4.

Sport selection for 2020 has been further improved with parents being contacted via an online options selection platform to make their selections prior to Term 1 commencing.

There have been some requests for mountain biking, horse riding, and sailing as future Preparatory School co-curricular options. We currently have 11 summer sports and five winter sports on offer. At this stage these options are not popular enough to warrant a Preparatory School Sport option. Students can receive dispensation from school sport to follow these sports. We will look to advertise and support the Primary School mountain biking events as this is popular with students.

The Preparatory School used the StAC App effectively for Preparatory Sport in 2019. Draws for each code were initially sent to students and families via Synergetic. However, once venues were confirmed on the Friday prior to games, the draw was re-sent through the StAC App. The community appreciated having the relevant information surrounding draws on hand. It was also used for reorganisation surrounding wet weather, keeping the community informed as to where their student may be at a given time should the normal practice venue change.

New uniforms for the First XI football have been ordered for 2020. Other uniforms are currently in good condition and the strong St Andrew’s brand is represented proudly through the uniforms that students wear. The replacement of uniforms is meeting the required schedule and will ensure we can update uniform as and when required.

A continuing challenge is the lack of undercover space available for Preparatory School sport teams. In wet weather there is simply no option. Preparatory School basketball is allocated indoors one time after school and a couple of lunchtimes. A better option would be to put a roof over the current basketball area of the Preparatory School turf.

Goals continue to be set for 2020 to ensure that we work towards providing the best primary sports programme.