Sports News Term 4, Week 4 2026

Two weeks ago, we celebrated another fantastic year of sporting achievements at St Margaret’s College at our annual Sports Awards evening. This followed hot on the heels of the exciting announcement that we had once again been named New Zealand’s top girls’ sporting school by the NZ Herald, making it two years in a row.

Last week, the celebrations continued, with a strong contingent of our girls attending the annual Zonta Secondary School Sports Awards as finalists across a number of categories.

With so much recognition and so many awards being celebrated, you could be forgiven for thinking that sport for the year was winding down. However, that couldn't be further from the truth. Every weekend, our girls continue to represent St Margaret’s across a wide range of sporting competitions and tournaments, and this will continue right through until 17 December. There is still plenty of sport to be played, achievements to celebrate and opportunities for our girls to finish the year on a high.  

As we look towards the end of the year, our attention is also turning to the beginning of 2027 and our Term 1 summer sports programme. Preparation is already well underway, and this year we are looking to introduce an earlier sports selection process. We will send information to families over the next couple of weeks, and students will be asked to make their Term 1 summer sports selections before the end of the year. This will help us get organised early and ensure we are ready to hit the ground running when the new school year begins.

ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT

Athlete Development Programme
Applications are now open for the 2027 Year 10 Athlete Development programme. This programme offers students the opportunity to hear from outside speakers on topics such as sports nutrition, mental skills, training, recovery, time and energy management, as well as listening to stories from past and current elite athletes. Mrs Seymour, who runs the programme at school, spoke to the Year 9s last week and handed out information sheets and application forms. Year 9s can also find a copy of the application form in their emails.

Applications close on Monday 9th November 4pm and can be returned to the sports office. This programme is open to any Year 10 student in 2027 who enjoys sport and would like to know more about the topics that can help support them to perform and flourish.

Families of current Year 10 students will be receiving an email soon about the 2027 Year 11 Athlete Development Programme. We are looking at offering this in a different format for 2027 and will be calling for applications shortly.

JUNIOR ATHLETICS 

The Junior School Athletics Day was a fantastic celebration of participation, effort and house spirit, with students enjoying a full day of athletics in warm, sunny conditions.

Students in Years 3–6 competed across a range of track and field events, demonstrating determination, enthusiasm and some impressive athletic performances. It was wonderful to see students challenge themselves, support their classmates, and give their best throughout the day.

Our youngest athletes in Years 0–2 enjoyed their athletics circuit, taking part in a variety of activities designed to develop their fundamental movement skills in a fun and encouraging environment.

The House Relays were a highlight of the afternoon, bringing plenty of excitement and enthusiastic cheering as students raced for their houses.

A big thank you to all the staff, student helpers and supporters who contributed to the day. Congratulations to everyone who participated and helped make the event a success!

KORFBALL - REPORT TO COME FROM ALICIA

RUGBY 7s 

The U16 Rugby Sevens team competed in the SISS South Island Tournament in Geraldine on a brilliantly sunny day, with plenty of supporters making the trip to cheer on the girls.

The team started strongly with a good win against a combined Oamaru side. As the tournament progressed, the girls continued to find their feet and adjust to new combinations, growing in confidence with each game. Facing tournament favourites Christchurch Girls’ High School was a tough challenge in the heat, but the team competed strongly.

The semi-final saw us take on a well-structured Central Southland College side, who went on to defeat CGHS in the final. This meant a play-off for third place, where the girls really hit their straps, producing some fantastic rugby and running in six tries from across the park. Standout performances from Mila Rule and captain Lucy Johnson helped secure an impressive win and third place overall.

The junior team has developed tremendously throughout the year, growing in both confidence and ability with each game. Their progress is a promising sign for the years ahead, and the girls should be proud of their efforts and achievements this season.

ROWING

The season has started, and we are excited to currently have a team of 60 rowers! They have been training both on and off the water since the final weeks of Term Three. We kicked off the holidays with a very successful 3-day camp in Kaiapoi. We were fortunate to have great weather, covering many kilometres on the water while our new rowers made fantastic progress.

This camp was the first of four scheduled for the season. Our upcoming camps include Lake Rotoiti in early December, and a mid-January camp in Twizel that incorporates the Canterbury Champs. Our final camp will also be in Twizel in early March, where we'll put the finishing touches on our team ahead of the Maadi Cup.

This season we have another strong coaching team led by Ian Smallman. Ian has led this team for a number of years and is joined by an experienced group of coaches: Sarah Lindley, Nigel Atherfold, Stella Blake, Tori Cox, Vicky Taggart, and Ava Yellowlees. Sitting alongside them is George Keys, our Boatman. Our rowers are incredibly lucky to learn from coaches with international experience as rowers and coaches and an extensive background in other programs.

Our racing season kicked off with a 10km race on the Waimakariri and Kaiapoi rivers (Bridge to Bridge). We entered three eights across our U16 - U18 rowers. The crews raced brilliantly, with our first-placed crew even managing to beat the St Bede’s U16 crew! At the end of November, we head to Ashburton for our first full regatta of the season. Looking ahead to 2027, we have three regattas at Lake Ruataniwha in Twizel - Canterbury Champs, South Island Champs, and South Island Secondary Schools, culminating in our final regatta, the Maadi Cup at Lake Karapiro, Cambridge.

On a very exciting note, after 15 years of operating out of a temporary facility of containers and a fenced-off area for our boats, we have a wonderful new shed! The Greer Family Rowing Centre was made possible by Woody Blakey, Mike Greer, and a team of people who contributed to this project. We were extremely fortunate to benefit from their expertise, along with generous funding from four families and the ‘50 Families. One Shed’ campaign. We are deeply grateful for this purpose-built facility, and the rowers and staff send a huge thank you to everyone who made this dream a reality.

VOLLEYBALL - CANTERBURY JUNIOR CHAMPS

Good luck to our Year 9A and 9B teams for the Canterbury Junior Volleyball Champs being held at Parakiore this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  All the very best.

WATER POLO - REPORT FROM ALICIA

ZONTA SECONDARY SCHOOL SPORTS AWARDS

Last Wednesday night a large contingent of SMC athletes, parents, coaches and staff attended the annual Zonta awards ceremony.  It was a fantastic night celebrating all things school sport and the achievements of student athletes whose dedication and hard work have made them some of the best in New Zealand.  Congratulations to Ciara Hartland (Year 13), Tracey Hsia (Year 11) and Emma Crawford (Year 12) for all achieving highly in the category of ‘Best all-round young sportswoman who has achieved in more than one sport’.  A remarkable achievement.

SMC SPORTS AWARDS 

CELEBRATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

KUNG FU - TESSA KERR

Congratulations to Tessa Kerr (Year 11), who recently competed at the Kung Fu School National Tournament in Palmerston North on 24 October. Representing the Christchurch Kung Fu team, Tessa achieved an excellent 3rd place in the Under 75kg Master of Weapons (MOW) category. A fantastic achievement at national level – well done, Tessa!

SKIING - LEXI GOODING

Throughout this year, Lexi has maintained a commitment to ski racing, training with Team Hutt and competing in international FIS races under the New Zealand flag across France, Austria and New Zealand. At the beginning of the year, she spent six weeks training at the Benni Raich Race Centre in Austria to prepare for the upcoming Southern Hemisphere racing season. She then returned to New Zealand for winter training at Mt Hutt, travelling to Wānaka and Queenstown to compete in a range of events, including the National and National Junior Championships and the Australia New Zealand Cup series. Despite challenging weather conditions and several postponed races, the season was another rewarding experience, filled with bluebird days on the mountain, valuable racing experience and the excitement of competing alongside some of the world’s best.  Amazing stuff, Lexi.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

6th - 8th November - Volleyball - Junior Canterbury Championships

10th/11th November - Cricket - Year 7 & 8 Festival

16th November - Junior Touch Festival - Hagley Park

17th November - Junior 7s Festival - Nga Puna Wai

17th - 19th November - Volleyball - Junior South Island Championships - Christchurch

18th & 19th November - Tennis - Junior Canterbury Championships - Wilding Park

19th - 22nd November - Water Polo - Junior South Island Championships - Christchurch 

21st-22nd November - Canterbury Secondary Schools Touch Championships - Sheldon Park, Belfast

25th November - Year 7 & 8 Athletics - Canterbury Primary Schools

29th November - Cricket - Willows Cricket match

6th December - Canterbury Secondary Schools - Beach Volleyball - Christchurch

11th - 13th Athletics - NZ Secondary Schools Athletics - Whanganui

15th - 17th December - Beach Volleyball - NZ Secondary Schools Nationals - Mt Maunganui