Top 5 finishes for Intermediate teams at Tim Sonderer Memorial
Tim Sonderer was an Intermediate school boy just like these boys. His passion was to start an Intermediate Water polo tournament and he did! It has grown year on year with the most entrants ever this year.
The Rosmini Blue team performed remarkably well placing themselves 5th overall in A grade with just one loss in the tournament. They convincingly won all their pool games Northcross (6-3) and Churchill Park (15-2). However, they faced a challenging pool in the next round against top teams St. Kents and Kings Black where they drew with Kings Black (4-4) but lost to St Kents (2-7). They missed out on getting to semi-finals by goal difference to Kings Black, however they continued to perform well and secured victories over Dio (7-4)and Mt Maunganui (8-4), ultimately finishing 5th overall in the A grade. The team's success was attributed to the team's hard work and unfailing determination.
Thank you for the guidance and support from the fabulous and supportive coaches Ethan McKolskey and Mathew Mihaljevich along with Manager, Tressa Joseph.
Meanwhile, Rosmini Red coached by Ollie Sahinkaya and Liam Morley had a fantastic tournament gaining 4th place overall in the B grade, beating St. Kents 7-1, St. Thomas’ 6-1, Kings 6-0 and Sacred Heart 5-4. A golden point win against SH in a nail-biting game followed by another golden point game losing to Combined Schools 4-5. This team went on to win the tournament. Red gained 4th place overall after a loss to St. Kents. A fantastic tournament for this team and new student coaches Ollie and Liam.
Finally, our Rosmini White team found themselves in a tough draw with some very close games in pool play to keep the spectators' nerves on edge, showing their resilience and coming away with three wins with a one goal margin. Unfortunately they faced a very strong Belmont B team in the semi final which led to a 3rd/4th place final against their old foes Kristin.
The final game was tough and physical but our boys were determined to win, had fun, played well as a team, and listened to coach Clare (who was filling in for Ed and Louis student coaches) leading to a 10-5 victory and a well earned Bronze medal! The smiles on the faces and slaps of joy on the water at the final whistle said it all. Congratulations boys and a big thank you to all the parents, friends, school and NH coaches who support them.
As with all Rosmini Water polo teams, the best question in the world is: ‘When is our next game?'
Without our fantastic student coaches, managers and parental support our teams would not have these great opportunities - so thank you.
See you poolside.
Mrs Peak
