Kia ora e te whānau o Springs-Waiorea (WSCW), below are the key dates for Term…
Check out our Springs-Waiōrea sporting news from Term 1 2026!
ATHLETICS – College Sport Auckland Championships
The College Sport Auckland Athletics Championships took place at the Go Media Stadium in Penrose on Tuesday 17 March and Thursday 19 March.
Congratulations to Daequan Su who won a silver medal in the Senior Boys Long Jump and a bronze medal in the Senior Boys 110m Hurdles, and also to Kingston Sulusi who won a bronze medal for Junior Boys Shot Put!
Well done to all the talented students who represented WSCW!
Daequan Su – Senior Boys 110m Hurdle + Senior Boys Long Jump
Ryan Potter – Intermediate Boys 100m sprint (first in his heat!) + Intermediate Boys Long Jump
Kingston Sulusi – Junior Boys Shot Put
Sam Van Grinsven – Junior Boys 200m sprint
Jess Lee – Intermediate Girls 200m sprint
CRICKET
Cricket in Term 1 was great for WSCW. Our senior team stepped up from 20 overs (T20) to a limited 40 overs (LO40) format and the juniors (year 9 and 10) played a 20 over morning competition. With all but one of both team’s games played at home, our sports and grounds departments did a fantastic job of preparing the field and facilities. The seniors would often turn up to cheer the juniors on at the end of their games. It gave the days a fun, almost festival vibe! – especially as most Saturdays we had the pleasure of the kapa haka groups practising as well, so it was great to show our visitors our school so alive on the weekend.
Both teams showed what can be done when everyone pulls together – great camaraderie, great growth and great results. We had some very enthusiastic players who would play juniors in the morning then play again for the seniors game in the afternoon. Get ready the Black Caps!
Springs Junior Cricket – by Nic Rowan
The junior team was made up of existing players and some who were new to cricket. This group of young cricketers put in the effort, and quietly became an exciting team to watch. They won all their games this half of the season! A wonderful achievement!
Confidence was built from some stand out performances, moments of individual brilliance and a team lifting each other and improving steadily. The results were well earned and often came down to the wire. Watching this all happen from the side line was genuinely one of the most satisfying things I’ve witnessed in sport.
Springs Senior Cricket: on the up! – by Gordon Harcourt
It wasn’t the prettiest view all the time but, as our umpire, I definitely had the best view of our senior boys’ first taste of the 40 over competition. Initially it was a tough ask, as they were a bit rusty and needed to adjust to the longer format game. However, by the final game we showed we are worthy of the grade. The best aspect was the growth in on-field leadership and organisation and how the team was tuned in to the moment, with every player giving energy and commitment.
I want to call out a few choice moments:
- Shot of the season: Stan’s magnificent straight drive for 6, into the wind and just over the outstretched hands of his brother (fill in fielder for the other side).
- Ball of the season: Shay’s hooping in swinger that obliterated the stumps vs Grammar at Avondale (a wind blasted ground that challenged everyone’s resilience).
- Catch of the season: Billy’s ankle-height slip grab. A close second was Shay’s catch-with-my-chest-then-grab-the-bounce at mid-off. The noise of it hitting him was a wee bit terrifying.
- Worst venue (we only played one away game): Avondale Racecourse. Did I mention the relentlessly unforgiving gale force winds?
- Dedication awards: Jack and Yenul for regularly turning up for the seniors after a morning with the juniors.
- Mascot of the season: Pipi the dedicated black labrador.
Particular thanks to Peter McIntyre and team for giving us our air-conditioned dressing room/pavilion and for water-blasting the pitch on Day 1. Most of all, thanks to Marcus Clark and Elke Chilwell for helping make sure cricket at Springs is an actual thing.
I look forward to rejoining the 40 over competition in Term 4!
Future cricket at WSC
The future of cricket at WSCW is looking good. With much of the senior team being relatively young, the older junior players looking very competent, and a pipeline of keen players heading our way from surrounding intermediate schools, we may soon be looking at fielding even more teams! Hopefully this may also include girls teams. Roll on term 4 when we can do it all again!
Girls cricket
We almost had the numbers for a girl’s 9-a-side team this term. If there are any girls out there keen for Term 4 cricket (5 games) sign up now!
Thanks
Thank you to the invaluable help from our WSC staff and Grafton United Cricket Club. The Senior team, especially, could not have competed without Grafton’s practice facilities and technical coaching from some of their senior players.
Thank you to our manager (of both the junior and senior cricket teams!) Elke, you made the season possible and helped everything run smoothly; the organisation, the communication, going way above and beyond and taking care of the detail that nobody sees, but everyone depends on. Thank you to our coach (again, both teams) Marcus, for your genuine passion and enthusiasm, your commitment and your humanity and wit.
Finally, thank you to every player, umpire, scorer, parent and supporter who was part of our WSC summer of awesome cricket! See you in term 4. To anyone else interested in playing please reach out with any questions or to sign up (details below).
Sign up now for Cricket in Term 4
Junior boys – T20, 9am Saturdays
Senior boys – Limited Overs 40, 12.30pm Saturdays
Girls – T20 – 4pm Wednesdays
We’d love to see you! Please Contact: elke.chilwell@gmail.com
FOOTBALL – First XI Boys relegation games vs MRGS
Western Springs College has secured its place in Senior A2 Football for 2026 after an impressive two-leg playoff victory against Mt Roskill Grammar School (MRGS).
The first leg, played at home, saw an incredible turnout from students, teachers, friends, and family. The atmosphere created by the WSC community was outstanding and played a huge role in lifting the team. Thank you to everyone who came out to support.
The match began with a few early nerves, and WSC went into halftime 1–0 down. Shortly after the break, MRGS extended their lead to 2–0, providing the wake-up call the team needed. Showing true character and resilience, the boys fought back late in the game, with Austin Bailie scoring twice to bring the match level at 2–2 heading into the second leg.
FIve days later, the team travelled to MRGS’ number 1 field for the return leg. The boys showed great composure and intent from the outset. Their response was outstanding. Particularly their work without the ball, where their pressing game proved highly effective and in possession shape was something MRGS couldn’t keep up with.
WSC took an early lead through Art Koller-Hall before Nikko Guttenbeil doubled the advantage. Despite conceding a goal from a loose pass out from the back, the team went into halftime 2–1 up and in control.
The second half saw periods of pressure from MRGS, but the boys remained connected, relentless, and disciplined in their pressing, limiting any real threat. Austin Bailie added his third goal across the tie, before captain Charles Townley sealed the result in style with a superb free kick in the dying moments.
A 4–1 away win secured a 6–3 aggregate victory and confirmed WSC’s place in Senior A2 Football grade for the 2026 season.
We look forward to seeing the same fantastic support as we head into the season in Term 2.
Up the Eels!
Director of Football, Brock Radich
WATERPOLO – Senior Girls
A fantastic result at the North Islands Championship – the team achieved 2nd place (Silver Medal) after a nail-biting final! They were down 3–6 at the end of the third quarter and fought back in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 6–6. The match went to a penalty shootout, where we lost by a single goal (final score 9–10).
An impressive result in the Auckland League Senior A Grade – our girls placed 3rd, finishing just behind St Cuthbert’s (1st) and Diocesan (2nd), which are both top-tier water polo schools in Senior A and Premier league.
SUMMER TOURNAMENT WEEK:
Basketball
Our 3×3 boys basketball team competed in the Secondary Schools 3×3 competition and finished 7th in the open grade with a 5-2 record. They had an awesome first day with wins over Aorere, Botany Downs, Macleans, and Otamatea High School which placed us 1st in our pool. Day 2, we matched up with One Tree Hill College where we had a tough quarter-final loss (14-17), followed by a loss to Waitākere College (10-19). For the last game of the day they bounced back to beat Macleans (21-16) in the placement game. Big shoutout to captain Daniel Brophy and the team – Benjamin Stewart, Lucien James Mijares, and George Chalberg!
Our basketball programme is on fire this year with over 105 students trialing to give Western Springs a combined total of 10 teams this year! Training is going off with impressive showings from our players, the energy and commitment are through the roof! We’re seeing some awesome teamwork, skill development, and sportsmanship this year. It’s great to see the boys and girls pushing each other to be their best.
Currently we are looking for a Coach for our U19A Boys Basketball team and some awesome volunteer managers to help out, if anyone is interested email me at kaloloa@wsc.school.nz
Anthony Kalolo
Director of Basketball
Waterpolo – Senior Boys
The 2026 North Island Secondary School (NISS) Water Polo Championships took place on 21-24 March this year, which was the Division 2 Cup competition.
The team played five games in total – all of which were very hard fought, and we are all super proud of the boys. Some results went our way and some not so, in the end we won three games and lost two – this resulted in us missing out in the top four play offs by one point!
Games played:
G1 vs Liston College – WIN (16-2)
G2 vs Scared Heart College A3 – WIN (6-4)
G3 vs Rangitoto College Senior A – LOSS (5-6)
G4 vs Westlake Boys High – WIN (9-2)
G5 vs Kristin Senior Boys – LOSS (5-15).
The Rangitoto game was a hard pill to swallow… we led the game 5-4 with 90 seconds to go but fell out the last hurdle basically the result of having only one sub in a very closely fought game, but as above we all very super proud of the boys.
The tournament ended well for the team winning their last game versus Sacred Heart (8-7), resulting in the team finishing 7th overall in the tournament. While the team would have loved to have placed higher, ending the tournament with a win was a nice way to finish up for the team especially for the four Year 13 boys who this will be their last game for their respective school.
A special thanks to Peter Gourdie and Linda Raynes for their support and effort involved with the our Springs Waterpolo boys and girls teams – it is really appreciated!
Alumna News – Skylah Tainui-Takerei makes her debut in the Netball ANZ Premiership
Skylah Tainui-Takerei (Ngā Puna O Waiōrea-WSC tauira 2019-2023) is a really promising young netballer with a pretty dynamic journey so far! She was originally recognised as a talented multisport athlete – she actually played touch rugby at the national level. For netball, Skylah really started to shine in 2023 when she played for Western Springs College and was selected for the New Zealand Netball Development Camp. In 2024, Skylah was offered a scholarship at Howick College for Y13, and she was a key player in leading that school to win the National Secondary Schools Netball Championship.
In 2025, she moved down to Wellington to study at Victoria University and joined the Central Manawa team, where she quickly made a name for herself and even became the 2025 Manawa Player of the Year. Looking ahead to 2026, she’s got a training partner contract with the Pulse Netball team and last weekend, Skylah made her debut in the 2026 Netball ANZ Premiership in the starting lineup and played a full game. Skylah’s definitely one to watch on the netball scene! Wishing you all the best for the 2026 season, Skylah!
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