The schools of State Highway 50 on their march-past.
The schools of State Highway 50 on their march-past.
There have been a few postponements in the 50+ years of the Ongaonga 7-a-side tournament, but it took a global pandemic - Covid-19 to cancel the event completely.
Despite the lifting of lockdown, the popular tournament had to be cancelled. There were too many unknowns and too little time to pull together the enormous event.
The children of Ongaonga School were devastated, especially the Year 8s.
This prestigious event is certainly one of the highlights of the year for those Year 8s who become leaders in all they do.
They look forward to the chance to welcome all 17 Central Hawke's Bay primary schools and supporters during the powhiri, whaikorero, haka and waiata, also for the Year 8s who have attended Ongaonga for the whole eight years, the running of the flare.
Ongaonga students welcomed the other Highway 50 schools' students, staff and supporters.
So Karen Barkle, Ongaonga School principal, decided to organise a mini tournament with the Highway 50 schools. This included Sherwood, Argyll East and Tikokino.
The Year8 students got their chance to run with the flare.
Karen organised a fun sports day single-handedly. Not just for the senior end of the school either, this tournament was different.
Fun tabloid type games were enjoyed by the younger children.
All the children from each school would participate. Karen worked tirelessly, not wanting to add pressure to those who were already under pressure, to make teams which included members from all four schools. The traditional 7-a-side games (hockey, rugby, football and netball) were played by the older children and a variety of fun tabloid type games were enjoyed by the Years 0-3 children.
The traditional 7 A-side games were played by the older children.
The sun shone, there were smiles, laughter and lots of sausages and cupcakes consumed. While Karen organised the sports, parents enthusiastically supplied loads of iced cupcakes and manned the barbecue.
There was an amazing community feel with everybody enjoying the time together. The Ongaonga School community says thank you to the families, supporters, friends and students from these fabulous country schools for bringing positive vibes, sportsmanship and laughter back to the Ongaonga 7-a-side with a twist.
