Underwater hockey: Tauranga Boys' College come out on top

The Tauranga Boys' College is dominating underwater hockey around New Zealand. Photo / Supplied

Tauranga Boys' College is dominating underwater hockey in both the Bay of Plenty and New Zealand.

For the third year in a row, Tauranga Boys' College has scored the Top School accolade at the New Zealand Secondary School Championships.

The pressure was on the Tauranga Boys' College senior and junior underwater teams from the start of the champs in Rotorua last weekend, entering as 2017 champions in their respective divisions and overall Top School of last year's competition.

Both 2018 teams convincingly won each of their four pool games and ended pool play as number 1 seeds, gaining an automatic spot in the semifinal.

The junior team cruised into the final with a 13-0 win over Nelson College in their semi while the senior team had a much tougher game on their hands against the central zone regional winning team from Hutt International Boys' School. The Hutt boys' defence was strong, but the tenacity and determination of the Tauranga boys shone through, finishing with a 2-0 win to also make it to the finals.

In the senior final the Tauranga side was up against Glendowie College in a repeat of the final at the Northern Zone regional competition in June. It was a fast-paced, intense and physical game which ended with a 2-1 win for the locals, which was the only goal to be scored against this team all weekend.

The juniors were up against Wellington College, winning 9-0.

Both Gareth Ward-Allen and Ben Tortoiseshell were awarded Most Valuable Player for their respective teams and students were named in the championship tournament teams.

The seniors selected included Gareth Ward-Allen, Jack Tortoiseshell and Thomas Holdom and the juniors selected included Aidan Heath and Ben Tortoiseshell.

For the third year in a row, Tauranga Boys' College was also awarded the Top School accolade.

In addition to their success in the Secondary Schools competition, Ward-Allen, Holdom, Zac Howe, Tortoiseshell and Heath were all been selected to play in New Zealand Under 18 Men's teams to compete in the biennial Trans Tasman competition against Australia being held in Rotorua in the upcoming school holidays. Former student Ryan Carter was also named in this squad.

With six of the 20 squad members being from Tauranga Boys' College, the school is dominating Underwater Hockey in the region and across the country.

The teams
2018 Senior Team: Gareth Ward-Allen (captain), Jack Tortoiseshell (vice-captain), Jacob Heyblom, Zac Howe, Thomas Holdom, James Robinson, Isaac Coggan, Hamish Cooper, Caleb Cooper
2018 Junior Team: Ben Tortoiseshell (captain), Aidan Heath (vice-captain), Christopher Maine, Daniel Maine, Ben Williams, Carter Ormsby, Parker Davis and Ben Goodjohn