The 1st XI hockey side competed in the Rankin Cup/India Shield tournament in Hamilton. This tournament was contested by the top 32 teams in New Zealand out of approximately 130 schools that compete at tournament level.
McGlashan opened its tournament with a loss to Christchurch Boys' High School. While this was a disappointing result, Christchurch Boys ultimately went on to play in the final of Rankin Cup and only lost to eventual winners Christ's College in a penalty shoot out. Tough games against Auckland Grammar, who won the Auckland competition, St Bede's and St Kentigern's left us without a win from pool play and the first cross-over match. However, we certainly gained some valuable experience from playing these more highly ranked teams.
Our 'must win' cross-over match against Lindisfarne ended in a 2-1 loss which means that we will need to gain promotion back to the top tournament next year. A task that we are confident we can accomplish. We finished the tournament with a good 3-1 win over St Patricks's and a narrow 3-2 loss to Whanganui Boy's High School. While not the result we were aiming for, McGlashan hockey is still in a strong position and our young 1st XI squad, half of whom are year 10 and 11 boys, will be ready for next years challenge of regaining our place at the top tournament. McGlashan has consistently maintained its national ranking from 23rd to 33rd place over the last 8 years. The challenge now is to lower this ranking further to compete consistently with the top New Zealand hockey schools.
We are looking forward to good results next year after we complete our hockey tour to Argentina and see some of our U15A players with Tanner Cup experience move into the 1st XI. Thanks must go to our experienced and hard working management team of James Nation, Kishan Naran and Trish Morrison. They have done excellent work with the 1st XI and have added greatly to the positive environment that exists within McGlashan hockey.
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