TRAINING:Wellington College year 9 B-team training at the pool

HUNDREDS of college students will be holding their breath in the hope of higher underwater hockey goals next week.

Wellington Aquatic Centre, Kilbirnie, hosts the central region schools qualifying tournament from June 11-13 for the right to compete in the national champs.

Teams have been training and playing hard for the past couple of months, and the culmination will be the selection of five teams for the nationals.

Junior grade co-coach for the Wellington College B team, Thomas Cutler, 16, says they always work on drills and skills at each session, but for the champs they are doing a bit more.

“There will be extra fitness to get them ready for the tournament,” he says.

For year nine students this may be the first time that they have played the sport, but Thomas says they are getting better and gaining more experience.

Long-time player and national men’s squad member, Richard Maxwell (left) who coaches the Wellington College senior teams, says the top five teams will qualify for the national champs, and it’s not always the A teams.

“Quite often we have B sides qualifying in both the junior and senior teams,” he says.

National women’s representative and Rongotai College coach, Angela Whiteman (below) says it’s a good platform for schools to see how good they are, and it could be a stepping stone for higher honours.

“The central region under-18 squad is selected from the comp, and from that the national selection is made,” she says.

With around 400 school players, 14 schools and 30 teams in the Wellington area it is a popular activity and Miss Whiteman says it’s one of the biggest school bases for the sport in the world.

“It’s because of our mini and schools league that Wellington and New Zealand are so strong,” she says.

Wellington College director of sport, Dave Keat, says his college is traditionally strong and generally does well.

“If we don’t make the top four in the country in both junior and senior, we’ll be disappointed,” he says.

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