Scotch College

Big New Zealand hockey tou

On the 10th of April 2000, 16 boys - Nick Collier, Tim Dean, Guy Batters, Aaron Vethecan, Alex Dillon, Evan Woodhead, David Cheetham, Heath Tibbals, Adam Saunders, Howard Sharp, Will Kelly, Will Mason, Richard Corbet, Dillon Best, Nick Beaurepaire and myself - plus three staff members - Mr. Black, Hilton Munroe and Mr. Flynn - assembled at Melbourne airport to board a 9:40 am flight to Wellington.

Despite one slightly late arrival and a forgotten passport, things at the airport ran relatively smoothly, and when we got off the plane in Wellington we were keeping quite well to our schedule. It promised to be a successful tour, and we were all excited. After arriving at Capital House, our home for the next two days, we went for a brief training run, and visited the turf where we would play our game the next day against Rongotai College.

I'm sure many of you will have heard about James Bull's condition. He was a valued member of the 1st XI last year, but unfortunately is now suffering from throat cancer. During the tour, as a fundraising scheme, boys were 'fined' anywhere from 50¢ to $2 and the money raised went towards buying a present for James. Adam Saunders was the first to be 'fined', contributing $2 for arriving late to the airport and forgetting his passport. Mr. Flynn was 'fined' on several occasions for taking too many photographs, and I copped one for crashing on the luge at Rotorua. At the end of the trip we had raised enough to buy James an All Blacks rugby jumper. His presence around Scotch and on the field this year will be sorely missed, not only by those who played with him last year, but by all who know him.

At 7:00 am, the team shuffled into the breakfast hall to stock up on carbohydrates and fluids, and despite the proximity of the first match, the mood was lighthearted. This however, was no indication of our attitude to the game against Rongotai. That morning Scotch College played a disciplined and hard game of hockey against good opposition. It was very even in the first half, but in the second half Scotch dominated and the 3-0 victory reflected this. The team's game plan worked well, and the amount of ball our strikers were getting was promising.

The next day we faced tough opposition in Wellington Under 18s. They were a very skillful team, and had us 3-1 down at half time. But Scotch came back very strongly and dominated the second half, to be 4-3 up when the final whistle went.

After the match against Wellington we travelled to Palmerston North, where we were introduced to our first billets of the tour. The next day the team met for a brief training session, before returning to our billets. In the afternoon we played Palmerston North, and by half time, were 3-2 down, after coming back from being 2-0 down earlier in the half. However, we were not able to recover and ended up losing 4-2. The score, I believe, does not reflect just how even the match was.

The next morning, we boarded the bus once again, this time heading off to Rotorua. We stopped briefly at Wanganui Collegiate though, and despite having played 3 games of hockey in as many days, we were able to beat them 6-4. We stopped for a while - due to problems with the bus - in a small town en route to Rotorua, but eventually got there and were grateful for the two days rest.

Rotorua has many attractions. Most of the boys had nursed their aches and pains in the thermal baths the night before, and were ready for a day spent on the luge and various other places around Rotorua. The favourite of most of the boys though, was the luge. Although two of the boys - Nick Beaurepaire and myself - crashed quite badly, every boy and member of staff enjoyed themselves immensely.

Our next match was against a team called Hauraki Plains. They are a small farming community about an hour outside Auckland - not the place you would expect to find one of the top five hockey teams in New Zealand. They were a very strong side and we found ourselves 7-0 down at half time. We regrouped though, and had a good second half, to lose 7-1. The goal was courtesy of some excellent work by Adam Saunders. That night the two teams met at a thermal heated swimming pool for a barbecue dinner. They were very hospitable.

The last match, against Auckland Grammar, was probably the closest, and most competitively contested match of the tour. We ended up going down 4-2, but they were lucky to get some of the goals they did, and Evan Woodhead was unlucky not to get a penalty flick when he appeared to be tripped in the circle.

After spending our last night in New Zealand with our billets from Auckland Grammar, we spent our last morning having a hot breakfast aboard a yacht, sailing around Auckland harbour. After that we drove to the airport and boarded the flight home.

The tour was very successful and it was great to play with boys from four different year levels. Even though it was the first time many of the boys had played together, the standard of hockey was great, and this reflects on just how strong and how much depth there is within hockey at Scotch. Goal scorers for the team were Evan Woodhead (5), Will Mason (4), Alex Dillon (4), Tim Dean (3), Guy Batters (1), Adam Saunders (1). I would like to thank all the boys, Mr. Black, Mr. Flynn and Hilton Munroe, and also our billets in New Zealand for their hospitality.

Taj Darvall