After a 4 year hiatus the Secondary Schools GC Event was held at Epsom/Remuera Croquet Club on the 2/3rd September.
This was the first time the event has been held in the Auckland Association and it was part of the Secondary School Sports Winter Week.
Players came from all over NZ, sadly none from the Auckland area but as far away as Gore.
8 pairs contested the event from 7 different schools. The event started with a block play, where all the teams would play each other. Their placing in the block gave them their position in the knockout stage of the event.
At the end of the block stage Kaylee Brown and Lexi Bradbury from Kaitaia and Taipa Colleges led the way on 6 out of 7 wins.
The quarter finals produced some exciting games and a few upsets. The number 3 seeds (after the block stage) brothers, George and Luca Whittaker-Cook (Whangarei Boys High Schools) were narrowly beaten by 6th seeds Charlie Klinac and Vincent Bray Champtaloup (Kerikeri High School), after the brothers put a perfect ball in front of 13 only to be blocked by the Kerikeri boys, and subsequently taking the game 7-6.
Max & Emma Philpott produced their top game to beat Kaylee and Lexi 7-5, whereas the other semifinal was a one sided game with Gus Buhler and Morghan Meldrum (Francis Douglas Memorial College) winning 7-0.
The losers from the main knockout went on to play for 5th to 8th place. This was won by the Whangarei Boys High School brothers.
The Final started in sunny conditions but unfortunately finished in pouring rain. The weather had been glorious until the last 1/2 hour.
Unfortunately, Max and Emma did not produce the same game as in the semifinal, but Gus and Morghan played consistently and held their nerve winning the final 7 – 3.
The event was very well sponsored, firstly by Whakaata Maori, who also steamed the event on their you tube channel, also by Bayleys, Caltex, NZ Carbon Farming and Apollo Projects.
The streaming can be watched on Whakaata Maori Youtube Channel.
Representatives from Bayleys and Caltex were on hand to help with the prize giving.
The prizes presented were:
The Bayleys altogether better award: won by Kaylee and Lexi.
The Caltex Good Sport Award: won by Ricardo Pintor & Nik Budd-Clement.
The Carbon Farming Award : won by Max Philpott.
And finally the Secondary Schools Cup was won by Gus Buhler and Morghan Meldrum of Francis Douglas Memorial College
