Football, formerly known as soccer, is a thriving sport in the College in 2009 six school teams competed regularly and some of the senior boys from our College are played in the Club 1st. XI team.

Girls 1st Eleven Hockey Team 2009     Boys 1st Eleven Hockey Team 2009

Click here for the end of season report from the Dream Team

End of season report for Girls XI Football

Despite losing a few key players we still managed to put together a very competitive girls 1st. XI team this year. The new girls joining the team worked hard to improve their skills to catch up with some of the more established members of the squad.

In the Rotorua/Taupo league we continued to be the dominant team with only Western Heights offering real opposition. In a tight series of matches with Heights we ended up all even, one loss, one draw and one win! The net result though was that although we were equal on points, for the first time in four years we did not retain the title as Heights had a superior goal difference. Sadly the "Finals day" to complete the season could not be played this year due to heavy rain flooding the Rotorua pitches leaving "unfinished business" between Heights and ourselves!

This year the Taupo Tournament was recognised as the top satellite tournament to attend (outside of the Nationals) meaning that several strong teams from Auckland and Wellington came to Taupo this year. The standard was therefore very high this year making the girls eventual 12th. placing from 24 teams a very creditable one.

On a personal note, I have been involved with girls football at the college for 7 years now and have seen it grow from a 1st. Xi with occasional matches for a 2nd. XI to a thriving sport with 4 full teams with regular fixtures and know that my Wednesdays will never be the same. I would particularly like to thank Rod Forrest and Roscoe Mcleod who have really helped with building a strong social side to sport over the years. I am happy to leave girls football at the college in good heart with plenty of potential for the future.

Good luck in 2010 Girls, make sure to deal to Heights!! All the best Mr. B

End of season report for 2009 for Boyx XI Football

The 2009 season went well with the first half of the season better than the second half. The first half of the season saw the team placed third on the table and one point behind the leaders. The second half of the season the team fell off the pace with a few players not playing to their full potential. The result at the end of the season was fifth place in the league which overall was a good result as the team has not been in this grade for four years.

The team consisted of one year nine, two year 10s, five year 11s and the rest senior players. Most of the games we played were against senior players. In terms of our overall result, considering the grade the team was in, and the younger age of most of our players  we can be proud of our achievements.

The strongest First X1 went to the tournament week in Hamilton. The team was unlucky not to go into the top draw but had a good play off ending the tournament in 16th place.

End of season report 2008 for the Girls XI Football

In what has been a very good year for football in the College shown below are some highlights.

Boys Football 2008 end of season report

The Taupo-nui-a-Tia College first XI football team travelled to Taranaki in early September to compete with twenty-three other schools and colleges from the length and breadth of the North Island in the Secondary Schools Malcolm Cowie Cup tournament.

Due to the size of the tournament the games were split between Karo Park, Inglewood and Manukorihi Park, Waitara with the team domiciled at the Egmont Eco-Lodge in New Plymouth itself.

Group games played on the first two days saw Taupo-nui-a-Tia lose first up, to eventual third place getters Rongotai College from Wellington, by three goals to one. However the young Taupo-nui-a-Tia side turned things around and beat Kerikeri High School 2-0 and the strong One Tree Hill College from Penrose in Auckland by 2-1.

In a quirk of the draw, Taupo-nui-a-Tia missed out on the top eight playoffs by just one goal and therefore finished the group stages as ninth best qualifiers. In another quirk of the draw they had a repeat game against One Tree College and this time slipped to a 3 – 2 defeat.

A further 3–2 defeat by Bethlehem College (Tauranga) consigned Taupo-nui-a-Tia to the playoff for 15th/16th and they managed a hard fought 2–1 win over Otorohanga College to take 15th place in what was a very strong competition.

There were no fewer than five year 10 students in the 15-man squad making it a very young team and one that has much promise in future tournaments.

The team was coached by Taupo AFC senior player Paul Drake and managed by a combination of Raymond How, Gordon Williams and Nigel Vanner.

Boys Football 2007

 The 1st. XI secured 3rd. place in a hotley contested Baywide League.  Members of this team plus some of our older students who play in the Town 1st. team went off to Papamoa to play in the Tournament there.  They competed very well and came away in 5th. place.

The 2nd. XI had a good season in the Rotorua/Taupo U15 league and finished up runners up in their section after a very tense final game which they lost on Penalties.

Girls Football 2007

The 1st. XI girls had a very successful season.  We lost no games during the league season.  We drew with both Western Heights and Girls High School away from home but went on to beat both of them at home thereby winning the Premier League. This places us in first place for finals day with a playoff against team 4, Western Heights.  In a tense match we beat them and so met our arch rivals Girls High in the final.  On this occasion they scored twice when playing with a very strong wind and we could not break their defence more than once losing 2 – 1 and coming runners up in the finals playoff.

We went on to have a very good week at Tournament here in Taupo.  Having struggled initially in pool play we improved steadily qualifying in 4th place in our pool for the top 8.  Here we came up against the high scoring Hamilton Fraser High School and shocked everyone by taking the lead.  We went on to lead 3 – 2 with minutes on the clock when they broke from midfield to score the equalizer forcing a penalty shoot out.  Unfortunately they won through on penalties and we finally fought our way through to a very creditable 6th place.

The girls 2nd. XI also played Competitive football in the Premier League along with the 1st. XI.  This was a big ask for what was mainly a very young team.  They competed very strongly though and held their own and finished in 3rd. place in the Premier League against all other schools 1st. XI’s.  Finishing third they qualified for the playoffs and despite trying very hard were placed 4th.

2 Social teams played in the second division and had a very enjoyable season.  The Social A team (or Dream Team) as they dubbed themselves won the Division 3 trophy on Finals day.

Many thanks to Geoffe Neame, Rod Forrest and Rosco McLeod for their hard work coaching the teams all season and to Robyn Orchard manager of the Dream Team.

The 1st. XI girls had a very successful season winning the Premier League and coming runners up in the finals playoff.  They also went on to have a very good week at Tournament narrowly missing a top 4 placing when losing the quarter final on penalties having been tied at 3 all at full time.  They finally finished the tournament in 6th. place.

2nd. XI finished in 3rd. place in the Premier League which was very good for such a young team.

2 Social teams played in the second division and had a very enjoyable season.  The Social A team (or Dream Team) as they dubbed themselves won the Division 3 trophy on Finals day.

Girls Social Soccer Team

Report 2007

Well! Where do we begin? The season started with all of the usual hype and enthusiasm that goes with pre season training and the anticipation of a fun filled season ahead. One or two people thought it would be “cool“ to play football, until they realised that they actually had to run and take part in physical activity.  Sadly these people dropped off the scene before they realised just how much fun we have in our Senior Girls’ Social football team.

While we give the game our best, we are not too fussed about the results, as our team philosophy is that FUN and TEAM SPIRIT come first and winning games is a secondary thing. Here is a taste of what happened during our year.

We started the season off really well, winning our first game against Rotorua Lakes High School 2nd XI with a score of 5-1.

I am not sure if it was our football skills which gave us the competitive advantage or did we just put them off with sooooooo much laughter and Karis’s antics on the field.

A major highlight of the season was our game against Western Heights with half of the field being a huge muddy puddle up to our ankles and it was pouring with rain. Kristyn thought she could walk on water only to discover what it was like to face plant in this muddy mess. Our goalie Hannah was injured from a rough kick and so we had to put Sinead into goal to cover. To say that Sinead was scared stiff is an understatement and of course the result was a bit of a disaster, but hey, well done Sinead you did your best.

We were lucky to have three Year 9 students join our team this year: Lucy, Jess and Jade who all joined in the spirit of our team and had a great season. These three came to be known as “Our Littlies” and who were always fashionably late to each game. Jess and Jade showed some fantastic football skills as did Lucy who eventually showed us all, that she had a “Bit of Mongrel” in her on the field. 

Stephanie Van Lit—Also known as “Mother Hen” was in charge of makeup hair and presentation before each game. She was ably assisted by Joelle Pritchard who looked after manicure and nails. Joelle actually had to miss one game because she was getting her nails done!!!!

Genevieve and Joelle developed special skills in handling the ball—usually after they had tried to kick it! This is football girls not netball!

Frances and Hayley won the ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ award as these two VERY quiet girls soon showed that they were great kickers of the ball up the field and worked tirelessly in defence. Our defence improved a lot when Briana joined us part way through the season with that GIGANTIC kick of hers. Well done Bree!

Team Captain Lily Marshall was our “Little General-ette” on the field. She proved that great things do come in small packages. Lily was ably assisted by Vice Captain “Mother Hen” Steph and both of these girls demonstrated very good leadership skills and along with everyone else on the team great supporters of our younger members.

Our Head Girl Rosie Gibb was the team counsellor and along with Lily and Steph a great motivator which gave the team a great deal of confidence which helped to cover our lack of skill with the ball.

Travelling away to games was always very entertaining with Sinead and Karis taking up the role of team DJ’s. Either in the bus or on the field we always had their iPod and a stereo to listen to. If a camera was nearby, these two were always keen to get in front of it!

To our manager Mrs Robyn Orchard thanks for bringing the oranges and jet planes—half time was always something to look forward to thanks to you.

Last but not least “Rod the God”.  Without Rod the team would not be complete. We would like to thank Mr Forrest for all of the time and effort that he put into our team and for putting up with us girls. Hope you will take us on next year.

So there you have it a taste of what it is like to be part of the best team here at TNT—not the best football players but we think the best team spirit.

By Karis and Sinead

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