Colourful Ongaonga School seven-a-side comp in 50th year

LIGHT SHOW: Ongaonga School students during the torch relay at the last Wednesday's Onga Sevens. PHOTO / CLINTON LLEWELLYN

There was a real sense of occasion for the 50th staging of Ongaonga School's annual seven-a-side sports tournament last Wednesday.

Keenly contested for half a century, this year's tournament featured 73 teams from 17 CHB schools competing in junior and senior rugby, netball, soccer and hockey competitions.

After the hundreds of visiting players paraded around the main field in front of parents, family members and supporters, they were welcomed by the host school with a kapa haka performance.

After the tournament ode was read, Ongaonga principal Aaron West - presiding over the first Onga Sevens since the sudden death last year of former principal Mike Lewis - introduced CHB mayor Alex Walker, who pointed out that some the students' grandparents might have taken part in the long-running tournament.

After the official torch relay was completed, the 50th anniversary tournament was declared open, before balloons in Ongaonga School's colours were released.

Out on the various fields, two teams from the host school made it to their respective finals.

While neither won a title, Ongaonga School was named the winner of the tournament's Fair Play award.

Aaron West described the tournament as an incredible day and thanked his team of workers for successfully pulling off the "slightly stressful" job of organising such a huge event.