An Inspiring Week of Winter Sports 

From horseback to hockey turf, football field to basketball and netball courts, and racetrack, Winter Tournament Week 2026 saw over 130 Rangi Ruru ākonga athletes travel across the motu to compete in their chosen codes. 

Winter Tournament is the culmination of a season of sport, where students have an opportunity to put their months of training and competing locally to the test and play for South Island and national titles. It is a highlight of the sporting calendar for many, as students spend quality time with their teams and create fun, lifelong memories. 

This year, Rangi Ruru teams, coaches, managers and even some supporters travelled to Dunedin, Taupō, Whangārei, Nelson and Taranaki for the competitions, which turned out some fabulous results (scroll to the bottom of this article for the full list). 

Notably, Hockey 1^st and 2^nd XI had some outstanding performances, with the 2^nd XI placing 2^nd in their national division and winning the Chris Arthur Cup. The 1^st XI placed 13^th after a series of close games but ultimately were crowned the top goal scoring team with the top goal scoring player (Issy Carr, Year 13) and also nabbed the prestigious Pat Barwick Shield. 

Our Junior Basketballers also had an incredible week, placing 4th in the South Island’s top grade and the senior team placing 4^th in the Southern Cup grade. Our Equestrian riders cemented themselves as the dressage team to beat, taking out the full podium as well Competitive Trail Ride, Quiz Master and 3^rd in Show Hunter. Not to mention the Emily Burt taking bronze in the fencing arena, and duathletes and cyclists Phoebe Whyte and Poppy Stocker racing for gold. 

Netball also played a formidable tournament, placing 7^th in the South Island after a one goal loss in the final seconds of the play-off to qualify for the 5^th and 6^th final. Hannah Harper was also one of just 15 players talent identified to trial for national selection. She was also selected for the Mainland Development Camp, along with teammates Amelie Wilkie, Toia Sheed, Manaia Sheed, Emily O’Reilly and Zoe Willis. 

Rangi Ruru Director of Sport Gwen Harrop says the tournament week not only demonstrated the culmination of the season’s athletic development but reinforced the athlete culture Rangi Ruru has been embedding with players, staff, coaches and managers. 

“We really saw the messages of our new development pathway for student athletes and our shared structure for coaches and managers coming through,” she says. 

“The vision of these initiatives is to embed a culture across all aspects of sport at Rangi Ruru where ākonga and leaders are able to access more development and awareness of holistic athlete development and building team culture.” 

This co-ordinated approach has seen ākonga recognising habits and mindset shifts to enable their development not just as individual athletes, but as team members both on and off the playing arena. An event for coaches and managers earlier in the season focussed on advice for nutrition, coaching and fostering team culture. 

“Sport at Rangi Ruru is about building the whole athlete and being part of a team-first culture,” says Mrs Harrop. “Events like Winter Tournament are often the source of memories these students will hold on to for life; and it won’t always be the games and the final scores, but it will be the fun things that happen at training, the activities you do back at the accommodation and on travel days with your team. 

“The more support and development we can provide for our teams, the better equipped they will be to flourish not just as team members, but as people.” 

Mrs Harrop also wished to acknowledge the work of the Sport Department, coaches, managers and supporters who made the week possible. Ngā mihi nui to everyone who played their part in Winter Tournament Week 2026.

Winter Tournament 2026 Wrap Up 

BASKETBALL 

Junior: 4^th, A Grade, South Island 

This team have totally risen under the nurturing of new coach Erin Howes. A huge leap to come 4th in A Grade from last year’s 5th place in B Grade.  

Senior: 4^th, Southern Cup, South Island 

This result certainly isn’t telling of how much growth has occurred this year; This team are more connected, more skilled and better off from a year of development under an all-alumnae coaching squad of Millie Knight, Sammy Duggan and Manager Georgia Thomson. 

A huge thank you to PAK’nSAVE Queenstown, whose sponsorship and support of our Senior A Basketball programme is greatly appreciated. 

CYCLING 

Poppy Stocker: Gold in time trial, silver in criterium and 1^st overall U15 

Lucy Henshaw: 8th in U17 

Kate Oliver: 5^th U20 

Phoebe Whyte: 9^th U20 

All four riders produced incredibly strong performances in some highly competitive fields, but a special congratulations goes to Poppy Stocker, who had an outstanding weekend! 

DUATHLON 

Poppy Stocker: 1^st U14 Female 

Phoebe Whyte: 1^st U19 

Charlotte Gorman: 2^nd U19 

Nicola Ridd: 4^th U19 

Congratulations on these incredibly strong performances; especially given the weather bomb which added another layer of challenge to this already difficult event. 

EQUESTRIAN 

Individual Class Wins 

• Competitive Trail Riding – Colette Marsh & Arabella Vincent 

• Dressage – Paige Falconer (2 wins), Zoe Innes, Sophia Kingan, Emma Riley, Nova Williams, Matilda Ranken & Evelyn Thompson 

• Show Hunter – Emma Allan, Paige Falconer & Aurelia Ashman 

• Arena Eventing – Ellie Jones 

• Show Jumping – Liv Mehrtens 

Team Championships 

• RR Raiders – Champion Quiz Team & 3rd Overall: Katie Hickling, Zoe Innes, Emma Riley, Liv Mehrtens, Ellie Jones & Matilda Ranken 

• RR Ramblers – Champion Competitive Trail Riding Team: Colette Marsh, Milly Dampier-Crossley & Heidi Johnson 

• RR Royals – Champion Dressage Team: Alice Murfitt, Chelsea Pearce, Sophia Kingan, Evelyn Thompson, Lucy Groome & Layla Singleton 

The popularity and growth of our equestrian programme is illustrated by the fact that we had over 50 horses and riders enter—a record number, and more than any other school across New Zealand. 

FENCING 

Emily Burt (Year 11): 3^rd  

Congratulations Emily on this achievement at the New Zealand event. 

FOOTBALL 

1^st XI: 32^nd, National 

In this highly competitive tournament against the country’s best, our players learnt a lot about resilience and camaraderie under the guidance of manager Mr Paul Leitch, and coaches Miss Ash Ward and Liv Hooper. 

A highlight of the week was being awarded the tournament Fair Play Award, a fantastic reflection of the sportsmanship, attitude and character shown by the team throughout the week. 

Thank you to our football programme sponsors, Dexion – Smarter Living. 

HOCKEY 

2^nd XI: 2^nd in Chris Arthur Cup, National 

1^st XI: 13^th, National + Pat Barwick Shield, top goal scoring team and top individual goal scorer 

A formidable pool play for the 1^st XV, who finished top but lost a heart-stopping penalty shootout by one goal to make it into the top eight. A fantastic season from this team thanks in no small part to coaching team Aaron Ford, Megan Wang and Eef Reitveld plus manager Sharon Lloyd. 

Our 2^nd XV are another exciting group of girls and under the coaching care of Hayley McKellow and Jess Cooper along with manager Angela Lidstone, they have absolutely thrived. Having two teams competing at such a high level is a credit to the depth of our hockey programme. 

Thanks to Archibald’s for your continued support of hockey at Rangi Ruru. 

NETBALL 

Senior A: 7^th, South Island 

This was the first time the team has broken into the top eight for 16 years, with Hannah Harper (Year 12) selected for SISS Talent ID. Thanks in no small part to the Senior A coaching of Nicole Sinclair and assistant Mahina Henry-Campbell along with team manager Savannah Laws, under whom there has been a profound rise in Rangi Ruru Netball. A nod also to Kate Harper who provided primary care and led the team’s recovery throughout the week. 

A huge thank you to Mike Greer Homes for their continued sponsorship and support of the Rangi Ruru Netball programme.  Homes, Cherryland, Thermatech, Chris Jones Bayleys, and Mark Sutton Builders.

Check out the full rundown of results for each code on the Rangi Ruru Sport Facebook page.

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