King's Inaugural Netball Tour to NZ
Over the recent holidays, King's Senior Netball squad took their on-court success from the 2022 season overseas. The team travelled across the ditch to windy Wellington for King's inaugural female international tour. They found their bearings around NZ's Capital and then headed to the courts for some pre-game training. Windy conditions and cold weather tested the team early. For a reprieve from the cold, they visited Te Papa Museum and enjoyed an amazing experience. They finished the day on a high, with both teams winning their matches against St Mary’s Catholic School, who were the 8th strongest team in NZ schools' netball in 2022. With some tall opponents, King's players held strong and came out victorious.
vs St Mary’s Catholic School
- Junior - KCC 67 v St M 35
- Senior - KCC 49 v St M 44
The group then travelled two hours north to Palmerston North to compete against Manukura School. Manukura is a small school with only 192 students but a strong netball program, placing them 7th overall in NZ. Once again, King's teams had to adapt to the NZ-style of netball, but successfully came out on top. The rest of the day was spent relaxing with the Manukura students and staff, including a memorable cultural experience. Some King's students even found family connections among the group and discovered that some would be competing against each other in Japan for the Girls Rugby 7’s tournament!
vs Manukura School
- Junior - KCC 41 v MS 17
- Senior - KCC 37 v MS 22
To end the Netball Tour, the group travelled to play Samuel Marsden Collegiate School back in Wellington. King's remained undefeated but it was during the after-game activities where the girls had the most fun. Our last group dinner with Samuel Marsden turned into a night of mingling, creating Tik Tok videos and making great memories.
vs Samuel Marsden Collegiate School
- Junior - KCC 54 v SM 12
- Senior - KCC 42 v SM 23
Other tour highlights included wharf jumping, scavenger hunts around the city, group hiking, meeting the NZ Central pulse, karaoke night and other team challenges. The group bonded with each other across all the challenges and showed great teamwork.Our very first international tour was very successful. Together as a group, we had many learning experiences, many memorable moments and laughs and played some great Netball. We are very excited to watch this group continue their seasons strong.