Heads up: Sporting success something to be celebrated at Horowhenua College

Horowhenua College year 11 student Shikynah Pearson was chosen for the New Zealand Under-17 team, which played against Australia and South Africa in August.

Grant Congdon is principal of Horowhenua College.

Kia ora koutou, talofa lava, greetings everyone.

Sport is always a major highlight for students during their time at college. There was a time when students mainly participated in the traditional high school sports – rugby, football, netball, basketball, cricket and tennis. Now, as well as those sports, there is a wide range of sports available for students to engage with.

Last week, Sport Manawatū held its annual awards evening in Palmerston North. Submissions were received from schools all around the Manawatū and Horowhenua regions, and the highest achievers were invited to this prestigious awards evening. We were very pleased to have three of our students recognised at this event. Their sporting achievements are remarkable.

Shikynah Pearson is a Year 11 student who is vice-captain of our Senior A netball team. She also coaches one of our college junior netball teams. Shikynah is a member of our Girls First XI Hockey team and participates in Waka Ama. She is a member of our girls First XV rugby team and was selected for the Manawatū Under-18 Women’s Rugby Team as well as the Manawatū Mustangs Under-16 Girls Rugby League Team. Shikynah has many other sporting achievements and to top it off, this year she represented New Zealand in indoor netball. She was chosen for the New Zealand Under-17 team which played against Australia and South Africa in August.

Horowhenua College student Rawiri Tristram-Brown competes as a student with disabilities in a number of sports.

Rawiri Tristram-Brown competes as a student with disabilities in a number of sports. In 2023, Rawiri had his debut season playing National League wheelchair basketball, and this year was selected to play for the Northland A team in the National League. In February, Rawiri was invited to train with the New Zealand Roller Blacks in Auckland, and in July attended the first training camp with the Roller Blacks. Rawiri is also a competitive swimmer and he has won numerous medals when competing in national swimming competitions. Rawiri’s success has been such that he was selected for the New Zealand Tri-Series Black Swim Team to compete in Australia recently.

Ollie Kennett is a Year 12 student and is passionate about swimming. He trains hours each week at the pool and his favourite event is open water swimming. Ollie has a long list of open water swimming achievements. He has won gold medals at Manawatū age group swimming championships as well as the New Zealand Open Water championships in Taupō, and he came second out of 255 swimmers at the 3.3km “Swim the Lighthouse” race in Wellington. Ollie was selected to represent NZ and he swam the 5km race for the NZ Open Water Team in Sydney. Unsurprisingly, Ollie is our 2024 Senior Boys Swimming Champ ... but he is also our 2024 Intermediate Boys Athletics Champ.

Horowhenua College year 12 student Ollie Kennett was selected to represent New Zealand in the 5km race for the New Zealand Open Water team in Sydney.

Participating in sport and enjoying the many benefits that come from it is something we encourage all of our students to do. So many fond memories are gained and life-long friendships cemented through sport.

Congratulations to Shikynah, Rawiri and Ollie for being recognised for what they have already achieved through their sport. Not only are they very talented athletes, but they also have the strength of character and attitude that is essential to achieving at the highest levels. We are very proud of them.