Water polo is a completely new sport at Lindisfarne and has got off to a roaring start this term with all College teams; the Senior A, the Development Squad and the Intermediate School team winning their respective leagues!

The Senior A team played Napier Boys' High School in the top high school league final. They took an early lead but then let Napier back into the game, only to pull away in the 3rd and 4th quarter to win the game 8:4. There were some excellent performances from Monte Douglas, Liam Monteith and Oscar Brandon in goal. Our boys scored some excellent goals and were very ably led by Fletcher Dawson.

This great result was followed up by the Senior Development team which was made up of mostly Year 9s and a couple Year 10s, playing in the B division final. They were playing against Karamu High School who were fielding Year 12s and 13s. It was a tight game throughout, going right down to the wire. There were some strong performances from Jed Schnell down the right wing, Oscar Hayward in front of goal and Tom Bayliss making some important late saves in goal. Jed captained the team with confidence, but it was teamwork that earned them the win, with the final result 10: 9 giving Lindisfarne a second trophy for the night.

The Intermediate School team were also successful in their division of the Hawkes Bay Water Polo's Term One league. They will be playing up in Division 1 from the start of Term 2 and should also be very competitive there also. The team was superbly coached by students Fletcher Dawson (Y11) and Monte Douglas (Y10).

Credit for these excellent results is shared with expert coach Ryan Schnell who has devoted a huge amount of time to getting the Lindisfarne teams up to scratch. The teams are also grateful for the wonderful support they received during the finals from all the players, whanau, and the Rector who says Water Polo is his new favourite sport!

Article added: Thursday 11 April 2024