As one of very few who had attended all 50 championships and as a member of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletics Association executive since 1978, I was privileged to speak at the anniversary dinner at the end of the first day of the three-day championships.
Memories flooded back from those first championships, which were incredibly well supported with hundreds of young athletes wanting to compete at the new all-weather track at the stadium.
As a 25-year-old coach, I travelled south with a team of 30 athletes, only a handful whose main sport was athletics. The team travelled south by travel options that no longer exist today.
The first leg was by train from Aromoho to Wellington and the second was by ferry to Lyttelton, where we were met by billeting families (billeting also sadly no longer exists today).
The Whanganui Collegiate and sole Whanganui podium place came from the senior boys 4x400m team, made up of a tennis player, two cricketers and just one athlete, who gained bronze, establishing a tradition in relays.
The present Whanganui Collegiate strength and conditioning coach Gil Barnitt was one of the two cricketers in that team.
The second of the 50th anniversaries was celebrated at the weekend, marking 50 years of football at Whanganui Collegiate School.
Over the weekend, 1981 captain Ian Rogers released his history of the sport at Whanganui Collegiate School, a compilation of annual reports from the Whanganui School magazine The Collegian, which included photographs, statistics and messages from former players.
The history recorded my part in the formation of the sport at Whanganui Collegiate, when I convinced headmaster T.U. Wells that football should be added to rugby and hockey as a sport offered at the all-boys school.
The start of football might have had a little more to with the fact that T.U. Wells Junior was in the 1974 team than to my diplomacy.
At the celebration dinner, Honours Ties (the school’s highest honour for past students and staff) were awarded to Mike Street and Brad Scott.
Street was master in charge of football and coached the team from his arrival in 1976 from Sunderland in England until the end of the 1989 season, and continued as master in charge until 1999.
Street brought the sport of football from its infancy to maturity at the school, winning their first local league title in 1977. He always demanded the highest standards of sportsmanship and inspired his teams with the true spirit of football.
Good coaches and good teachers have much in common, bringing success and inspiration to their charges and with it a life-long passion. Street was recognised for more than just football.
He was an outstanding housemaster and his teaching of classics, often seen as a dead subject, came to life under his tutelage, as did drama. His contribution to the school and city have been remarkable.
Throughout it all, Street has enjoyed the support of his wife Joan and his family, who all attended the anniversary dinner.
The other Honours Tie was awarded to former All White Scott, who joined the dinner through video link to accept the award and be interviewed. Scott gave inspirational advice to the younger players and was well-received by all who attended.
The third anniversary in the series next month will be the 50th anniversary of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country Championship in Christchurch. It is like the track and field event and will be celebrated back where it all started in 1974.
Again, we lost one championship to Covid. The Whanganui Collegiate senior boys won the inaugural Senior Boys title at Cuthberts Green in Christchurch. The small team flew to Christchurch but if memory serves me well, had serious delays on their return.
This year I will be accompanied for my 50th New Zealand Schools Cross Country Championship (the 100th New Zealand Schools event) by a larger team of boys and girls.
