College sport: User-pays worries over sport coaches

MAGS goalkeeper Patrick George collides with teammate Sam Redwood. Photo / Dean Purcell

Young sporting stars could be caught in the crossfire with the vexed question of coaching teams in secondary schools again set to hit the headlines.

On the one hand, schools struggle to find enough coaches while on the other, the Greater Auckland Coaching Unit has serious concerns over suggestions that graduate students be paid to coach in schools.

Andy Rogers, director of the unit, said that if schools followed the model of the Coach First programme from the United States and Britain, there was a danger of sport in schools becoming "user pays" and thus precluding many pupils from participating.

While the coaching unit, with the backing of the Regional Sporting Trusts Alliances - made up of Harbour Sport, Sport Auckland, Sport Waitakere and Counties Manukau Sport and with funding help from Sparc - encourages the concept of having quality, enthusiastic coaches coach in secondary schools, it strongly opposes any suggestion they be paid to coach.

"We need an apprenticeship-type scheme to get these graduates from sport-related courses prepared to coach," said Rogers. "Our fear is that under-qualified people be allowed to take on these roles. I don't disagree we need more coaches but we need to upskill them.

Rogers says the "pay to coach" idea contravenes Sparc's initiative of increasing the number of sporting volunteers in New Zealand by 200,000 by 2015.

On the other hand, Dale Burden, principal of Mt Albert Grammar - one of New Zealand's most successful sporting schools - would have no problem with paying coaches "if I could afford it".

"There are many schools who can't get the coaches they need from the traditional pool of teachers, parents and volunteers," said Burden. "I wish we could pay these parents and volunteers.

"Most secondary schools are desperately short of coaches. The demands on teachers are increasing. They work a lot harder and finding enough to coach after school hours is a problem.

"If I had the money, I would be more than happy to compensate them for the time and effort they put in.

"Surprisingly, I find it hard to find coaches for core sports like rugby and soccer - outside the top teams which fall under the academy programme. There are plenty of people happy to volunteer as managers but [they] don't have the necessary skills as coaches."

Burden said he had never heard of the coaching unit.

"We are short of coaches," he said. "But no one has come knocking on my door offering to help out."

PINEHURST

It hardly rates as a powerhouse among Auckland secondary schools but Pinehurst School is carving its own sporting niche.

World No 1 amateur golfer, Year 10 student Lydia Ko, is not alone among the winners at the 850-pupil private school in Albany.

Horses are their thing. They have dominated equestrian events in recent times including this year's North Island Show Hunter Championships in Cambridge, where they triumphed by a clear margin.

Led by captain Meg Joustra, the Pinehurst team, which also included Hannah Comrie, Tyla Myburgh and Maddy Buttle, beat St Peter's School, WGHS, Te Kauwhata, St Kentigern and near neighbour Kristin.

Earlier their team finished second to St Peters at the North Island Secondary Schools Dressage Championships after winning the Auckland Inter-collegiate Equestrian Ribbon Day.

As well as Ko, William Wood is making his mark with several local and Oceania karate titles.

The Pinehurst Robotics team formed an alliance this year to win the New Zealand Robotics Championships and competed in the world championships in Florida. Pinehurst's A-grade dragon boating team won their race at the SS Regional Championships.

Schoolbooks might hold pride of place at Pinehurst but in their own way, the boys and girls are determined to make their mark elsewhere with sporting honours always a sure-fire success story.

LEAGUE

It had been a long wait but a three tries to nil haul over MAGS paved the way for Otahuhu to claim the 1st XIII University Shield for the first time since 1988 with their 22-2 victory in the feature game on finals day of Auckland SS league at Mt Smart Stadium.

MAGS had earlier caused the upset of the season in beating defending champions St Paul's in the Auckland zone final. Otahuhu won their place in the grand final by winning the Counties Manukau zone.

McAuley High battled valiantly in the girls' premier final but went down by six points in a good game as Tamaki got home 16-12 to retain their title.

Honours were shared in the remaining finals with St Paul's holding off Aorere 18-10 in the under-85kg competition for the Jack Fagan Cup while in the earlier final for the under-15s nine-a-side teams, Aorere claimed the honours 30-12 over St Paul's.

RUGBY

Sacred Heart joined an elite group of schools to have gone through the 1A championship unbeaten, finishing their season on a high with a 12-0 home win over AGS - who ended their season with a five win-six loss record in sixth place.

At the end of a nail-biting last round and with King's having already played their 11 matches, Sacred Heart took the honours by three points from St Kentigern with King's and KBHS rounding out the top four.

Defending Auckland and national champions MAGS failed to make the cut, being eliminated on a countback. Beaten 10-5 by St Kentigern, MAGS ended their season with a seven-win, one-draw, three-loss record. They had by far the healthiest for-and-against differential and claimed a bonus point in all but one game but missed a top-four spot under the rule that allows two teams on the same points to be separated by the who-beat-who rule, which allowed Kelston to progress.

But rather than look at that or their last-round loss, MAGS can only rue the last-ditch charged down conversion from right in front which left them drawing with King's. Had they landed that conversion, MAGS would have finished third and pushed KBHS out of the equation as they lost to King's in the first game of the season.

MAGS kept themselves in the race with a midweek bonus point win over De La Salle but could not repeat and fell behind to St Kentigern, who scored a converted try and a penalty for a handy 10-0 halftime lead. The visitors thought they had closed the gap when they claimed a try after a maul but the referee was unsighted and ruled the ball had been held up. Not until the last minute, when Alex Hodgman scored out wide, did MAGS get any points but by then it was too late and their season was gone.

NORTH HARBOUR

Massey High School went to Rosmini looking to steal top spot in the North Harbour 1A competition in what was a season-defining clash.

Massey, three points back and chasing the advantage heading into the semifinals, needed to win but they found an equally determined Rosmini team in what shaped as a great encounter.

In their usual home game style, Rosmini came out firing, determined to put early pressure on the visitors, and soon claimed first points when fullback Ben Hyatt-Brown kicked a penalty. The game then began to settle down as pre-match nerves wore off, and the much-anticipated battle developed. Massey struck back with the first try when winger Tevita Li went over in the corner after a long period of sloppy Rosmini defence.

They then exchanged penalties with Massey still ahead 8-6 as halftime approached. Just before the halftime whistle Rosmini mounted a last attack using their powerful line-out drive to push hooker Nat Larmer over for their first try. Hyatt-Brown landed the conversion to hand Rosmini a 13-8 lead.

The second half was an even more intense battle as the physicality and intensity rose from both sides.

Massey's scrum looked very impressive, winning three against the head by using their powerful forward pack to their advantage, but just as they began to gain continuity in their play they lost two players in quick succession to the sin bin, handing a huge opportunity to Rosmini.

They did not need a second invitation as they again used their line-out drive to send Larmer over again.

Down by 10 points and with two men in the bin, the game seemed out of reach for Massey as the clock ticked down. Massey got one player back and managed to score one late try through No 8 Abraham Papali'i to end the game with Rosmini ahead 18-13.

Massey now face Westlake in a home semifinal. Rosmini, confirmed atop the table standing, will be at home to TGS in the other August 6 semifinal.

In the 1C division Westlake 2nd XV came from behind to defeat a slick and organised Albany. Massey 2nd XV comfortably beat KingsWay 38-8.

- Toby Hurley

SOCCER

Three points from their remaining three games will be enough for MAGS to claim the premier championship.

The Kevin Fallon-coached side all but wrapped up another title with a 4-2 home win over arch-rivals AGS but in the end they were made to work for it.

In a one-sided first half, MAGS scored three but missed as many more to take a 3-1 halftime lead after AGS snatched a late consolation when Simon Stafford Bush beat Patrick George's weak effort in the MAGS goal.

Earlier the home side had dominated and after a couple of early gift-wrapped chances went begging, Alex Ridsdale gave them their 15th-minute lead.

After further squandered opportunities, MAGS doubled their lead 10 minutes when Harley Tahau followed up to score when a shot from Jordan Vale had been saved. Vale quickly made it 3-0 to leave AGS supporters shaking their heads.

They took some heart from that late reply in the first half but 10 minutes into the second half were back with a three-goal deficit when Vale scored his second. But, after continuing to dominate, MAGS did their best to self-destruct.

Under-17 international Vale went from hero to zero when sent off for mouthing after a tackle.

The visitors won a penalty which Stafford Bush whipped home for 4-2.

MAGS regrouped and played out time but must now contemplate the implications of losing Vale as they continue their chase for the treble.

In his after-match speech, AGS captain Stafford Bush praised his opponents, saying "the best team won the match and congratulations to MAGS".

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