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Issue 54 – October 2015 – QUEEN MARGARET CALLING
Q ueen Margaret College students flew to Auckland in
September to be billeted with Diocesan families for the
three day experience.
The girls were treated to some of Auckland’s main attractions
before arriving at Diocesan School for Girls to meet their billets
before game day.
Two Netball teams, one Waterpolo and one Hockey team played
for the College in what was an evenly matched competition.
QMC Red Netball team won 25 - 16 against Diocesan and 30 -
27 against Baradene but unfortunately QMC Blue Netball narrowly
lost to both Colleges.
The QMC Hockey team won 2 – 0 against Diocesan and 7 – 1
against Baradene. In Waterpolo, QMC lost 8 – 2 to Diocesan but
won 12 – 2 against Baradene.
Ella Wilson enjoyed playing in the tournament and says the
highlight was getting to know the other schools and her billet.
Year 7 and 8 students competed in a multi-sport tournament against Diocesan School for Girls
and Baradene College of the Sacred Heart.
New Dio Sports Exchange
The girls battled the southern weather down in Invercargill
to win all their games, conceding only two goals throughout
the entire tournament whilst scoring 18.
This outstanding result promotes the team to Federation Cup,
the top ranked Hockey tournament in New Zealand for secondary
school girls. This is particularly significant as they are the only
Wellington based team who has qualified for this tournament in
2016.
The team of 17 students have been training hard since April
and have proved themselves tough competition, placing fifth in the
P1 weekly competition for secondary schools Hockey teams in the
wider Wellington region.
A strong performance at a pre-season tournament in Rotorua
also foreshadowed a successful year for the team. As well as
representing the College, approximately half the team play Hockey
at a Wellington Representative level.
“This has enabled all the players to develop individually and as
1st XI Hockey
Top of the
Table!
a team under the coaching of Gail Donaldson and Troy Nicholson,”
Captain Caitlin Heesterman explains.
“Their superb coaching has seen the team rise to the highest level
QMC Hockey has achieved in the last 20 years as well as teaching all
the players how to enjoy and be passionate about their sport.”
“This is something the team can also be proud of because it has
manifested in several of the older players coaching and umpiring
younger teams and thus further building a supportive team culture.”
Caitlin says one of the greatest challenges the team has faced this
year is coping with the fact that the team is quite young.
“With over half the team under the age of 16 they had to learn to
play smart and sophisticated hockey,” Caitlin comments.
As a team, the girls are proud to have played at such a high
level and are grateful for Gail and Troy’s coaching, Rhonda Yorke’s
management and the hard work and effort that all former players
have put in to help get the girls to where they are today.
“Exchanges like these are really good, especially for meeting new
people,” Ella comments.
“It was a great experience.”
The girls also attended classes and school assembly with their
billets before jumping on a flight back to Wellington.
Despite not bringing the cup home this year the exchange was
worthwhile and the College looks forward to hosting Dio in 2016.
The highlight of the Hockey season was the team’s first place title at the Audrey Timlin
Memorial Tournament during Winter Tournament Week.