1st XV Newsletter
Sponsorship
Your son is hoping to play for the college’s 1st XV this season. The team will compete in the Greater Wellington 1st XV competition and this will require us to travel as far away as Otaki at least every second weekend.
We will use the college’s two minibuses to travel to games but each round trip will cost the college approximately $120.00.
When we have home games we traditionally provide an afternoon tea for the visitors and this usually costs about $60.00 a game.
Rather than pass all of this cost onto you I am encouraging the boys to get out and seek sponsorship from local businesses.
I have written a letter which each boy can take to a local business to ask if they would consider sponsoring a trip or an afternoon tea.
We will use a variety of methods to publicise those businesses which do sponsor the team.
Coaching team
Dave Wish is the main coach again this year and he will be assisted by Marty Berry.
I will manage the team and be assisted by Vicki Wish.
The contact details for the team are:
Dave Wish Home 06 379 7906, mobile 021 866930, email: wishdv@xtra.co.nz;
Marty Berry Home 06 304 8339, mobile 027 4416945
Geoff Shepherd home 06 304 7252, mobile 027 4699927, college 06 304 9116, email: shepherdg@kuranui-college.school.nz
Contacting Don Yee, the college’s Sports Coordinator, is another way of getting a message through to the coaching team. He can be contacted on yeed@kuranui-college.school.nz or 3049116 ext 728
Costs
The subs for the 1st XV this year will be $160.00. This includes a Rugby Union affiliation fee, petrol to and from games and afternoon tea for home games.
We will reduce this cost if sponsorship can be arranged.
In past years we have organised for players to also buy a blue 1st XV shirt but to save costs and because the new white shirts look great with a tie, we will not be doing this again.
Afternoon tea
Kuranui has always provided an afternoon tea for visiting teams at home matches. We intend to continue this tradition but we could do with some assistance.
Last year we provided sausages and bread and this proved very popular. We would really appreciate your help with the cooking of the sausages, the buttering of the bread and the setting out of the food.
Gold Coast Tournament
The team’s managers have reluctantly decided that getting to the Gold Coast Tournament in June is going to be too difficult and without major fund raising, too expensive for families.
To make up for the disappointment of not going we are giving serious thought to a week long tour of a North Island region. Hawke’s Bay has been suggested as has Taranaki. Over a week we could play two or possibly three matches against secondary schools in one of those provinces.
Watch this space.
Uniform
For all 1st XV games both home and away players are to wear full formal uniform.
This means long blue trousers, white shirts (year 11 players should wear their long sleeve blue shirts), ties and blazers if owned or a college jersey.
Looking good on arrival at a match sends a strong message to the opposition about team commitment and unity.
Fundraising
The team has already earned a small amount from fundraising activities last year and we are planning more.
We are planning to run a motocross event on the Finlayson family farm on Sunday May 22. This will involve the boys helping as track marshalls, selling food or manning the registration desk.
The College Parents Association has run two of these events in the past and each time they raised nearly $3,000.00.
Although we are not going to Australia this year we should continue to fund raise. If we do go on a short North Island tour we could use the money for this or we could continue to build funds for the Gold Coast in 2012 or use the funds to help subsidise the costs for this year.
Each time we undertake a fundraising activity only those boys who help out will have an equal share of the income recorded against their name.
If you know of any fundraising opportunities let us know so we can organise boys to get involved.
Kuranui College v Tararua College 2010
Commitment
Preseason training is now well underway. It is our expectation that all boys who intend playing this season will attend every practice.
If players cannot make a practice or a game they need to tell either of the coaches or me beforehand. Simply not turning up lets everybody down.
The Wellington competition tough but we only narrowly lost the premier four final in 2010. This year our aim is to be selected to play in the premier three grade. Kuranui has been there before and made the finals in 2008.
We face three grading games in May and we will only make the cut to premier three if every player is fully fit and absolutely committed to the team.
In our grading pool we face Hutt Valley High School #2, Wainuiomata High School #2 and Onslow College #1.
We haven’t yet been told where these games will take place.
Haka
Joe Nuku, who is working with a group of boys in the college, has written a new haka for us. He intends coming to the college before the end of the term to teach the team the haka so we can use it on special occasions.
One reason for teaching the 1st XV the new haka is that we hope that they will in turn teach other students in the college. Wouldn’t it be great to have spectators able to do the haka for our team from the sidelines? This is very common at most of the “big rugby colleges” during interschool matches.
I am looking forward to the coming season.
I hope you can find time to come to some of the matches to support the team and I welcome any support you can offer.
G Shepherd
Principal/Manager
