Our senior mixed touch team did us proud at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Touch Championships in Rotorua. There were 43 other schools in the mixed grade so the competition was always going to be hot.

After a shaky start—losing the first games against Hutt Valley High School—they recovered and scraped through to the top 16.

They came up against Kaipara College in the first playoff but lost in an exciting drop-off, so moved into the bowl competition.

After that, they never looked back: winning all their games to take out the bowl. Ninth place out of 43 teams!

Congratulations to our players who received their 50 game plaques and the other four players who received their 25 game badges.

Best of luck to our departing year 13 players: Hannah Milne, Gracie Pratt, Riley Johnson, Sam Paterson and Chase Stanley. Thank you all for your commitment to this team and our kaupapa.

Huge thanks go to the families and of course our school for all the amazing support!

A huge final thank you to the Keno coaching squad (Jase, Denise, Hunter, and Roman): your unwavering dedication, commitment, countless hours of training, and constant support and care for our team have been truly exceptional!

Mauri ora!