South Island Secondary School Curling

Sunday 11th September 2016

On the 3rd and 4th of September, the 1st IV and 2nd IV curling teams competed in the South Island Secondary Schools curling tournament in Naseby.


Heading up to the Maniototo to take on the locals in their beloved sport was always going to be a difficult challenge, but with some of us being from the mighty Maniototo we knew what to expect and were ready to take on the challenge.

We headed up on Friday where Phil Dowling took us for a practice curl to get a feel for the ice and work on tactics and game situations. Thank you to Phil for sharing his knowledge and experience with us, it was very beneficial and helpful. Both teams suffered first games defeats, with the 1st IV (Harry Smith, Mitchell Parks, Robert Sangster and George Johnston –skip), had a tough game up first going down and being outplayed by a very good Otago Boys side.

The 2nd IV (Jack-Hutton-Aitkens, Will Turner, Tom Johnston and Josh Inder – skip) Played the Maniototo A team and went down in a heavy defeat. The 1st IV bounced back by beating the 2nd IV in an extremely close game, 7-6 with another end having to be played as it was a draw after six rounds. The 1st IV then beat Maniototo B team in a comprehensive victory 7-3 to top of a solid day on the ice. The 2nd IV couldn’t put their campaign back on track, losing all three games on day 1. The 1st IV then played an outstanding Maniototo A team, a team that has New Zealand players in it with international experience. The 1st IV made into the bronze medal match against Maniototo B. We were down 4-0 after two ends, but we were able to bring it back to 4-4 at half time.

It was a close battle until we blitzed away taking the bronze medal, winning 11-6. Overall it was a great tournament.