College Sport: Westlake champing at bit

Photo / Sarah Ivey

Girls' hockey coach Verity Sharland frustrated team can't play in Super City competition.

Westlake Girls' High School is resigned to its premier team not being able to play a higher standard of hockey in the Super City competition for the full year in 2015 like it did in 2013.

The North Harbour and Super City premier schoolgirls champions finished third in the 2013 Super City competition, the sole North Harbour school to enter out of nine teams. But there was a change of format for the 2014 season, with a five/nine week split: schools competed in their respective North Harbour and Auckland competitions before the top four in each competition advanced to the nine-week Super City round, which provides a very good standard of hockey.

Westlake Girls' won the North Harbour title comfortably this year, for the first time in several years, then went on to defeat Diocesan 2-1 in the Super City final, their first triumph at that level since the 1995 victory over the same school in the old Inter City competition. The stellar season did not translate into nationals, however, where Westlake placed just 11th in the Federation Cup.

Westlake Girls' coach Verity Sharland, sister of Black Stick Kayla Whitelock, says she is disappointed the format was changed for this season and is not likely to revert to the 2013 format, in which schools had the choice to play Super City for the full season.

"There are just more strong schools in the Auckland competition, and it would be great if we all played together [for the full season]," she said.

"The girls had worked really hard in 2014, and a large part of our success was down to the fact that we had played Super City for all of last year."

Sharland said that although her team "bombed" at the nationals, they were not using the change of format as an excuse for the relative failure. After all, they won the Super City competition and racked up a winning streak of more than 20 matches before losing in the nationals to St Cuthbert's.

But Sharland argues they are able to develop their players better and faster with a higher level of hockey than they receive in North Harbour at the start of the season. Rangitoto College, Carmel and Kristin were the other North Harbour schools to compete in the top tier of the Super City in 2014.

North Harbour Hockey chief executive Riki Burgess says he can understand Westlake's stance, but has to maintain the integrity of North Harbour schools hockey competition.

"It was about us working with College Sport on a format that suited all schools. It's hard for those big schools like Westlake Girls' at times because they are dominant in several sports. But we are hoping to get to a happy medium of meeting their needs and the wider hockey community's needs."

Westlake Boys' High was the only North Harbour boys' school to compete in the 2013 Super City competition, which they won. They lost the final of the 2014 competition to King's, which they had beaten 12 months earlier in the decider.

College Sport takes a break for the school holidays, and will return on Wednesday, October 22.

Aerobics
NZCAF (NZ SS champs), Invercargill:
Junior secondary open final: Meg Sutton (Pakuranga/Millennium Fitness) 1, Sarah Hiller (Millennium Fitness) 3

Volleyball

Premier
Junior girls: Rangitoto 2 Westlake GHS 0; Orewa 2 Rangitoto 0; Westlake GHS 2 Orewa 1
Junior girls: McAuley 2 Sir Edmund Hillary 0; Sir Edmund Hillary 2 Mangere 0; McAuley 2 Mangere 0
Junior boys: Sir Edmund Hillary 2 Kelston BHS 0; Sir Edmund Hillary 2 Mangere 1; Mangere 2 Kelston BHS 0

Lacrosse

Auckland
Boys' playoffs: Michael Park 15 Rosmini 1; Westlake BHS 7 MAGS 6; Orewa 2 MRGS 1; Pinehurst 6 Auckland Grammar 4

Ki O Rahi

Auckland SS tournament:
Final placings
Junior: Nga Tapuwae 1, Northcote 2, TKKM o Puau 3, TKKM o Mangere 4, Hato Petera 5
Senior: Nga Tapuwae Whero 1, Southern Cross Campus 3, Nga Tapuwae Kowhai 3, Massey 4, TKKM o Mangere 5, TKKM o Puau 6, TKKM o Teraki Paewhenua 7, TWKO Manurewa 8