Winter Tournament Wrap Up
1ST XI HOCKEY
The Iona 1st XI hockey ended Federation Cup 2025 (the premier division tournament) in a very respectable 11th place. The week in Wellington saw an exceptional level of hockey played by the top 32 girls’ teams in the country. Iona came away from pool play with two strong wins against Rangitoto College and Whakatane High School, and a narrow 1-0 loss to the eventual Federation Cup champions, St Margaret’s College. The crossover rounds saw a tough loss against an incredibly strong St Cuthbert’s College team, followed by an impressive win over Saint Kentigern College the following day. In the final two days of the tournament, we played Kings College, which ended in a 4-2 loss, and responded well on the last day to claim 11th place nationally with a shootout win against PNGHS. A very positive note to end the week on, and a week to be very proud of for the 1st XI Hockey team.
A huge thank you must go to Butch Menzies as coach, Kendra Borrie as manager, and Brodie Smith and Nicki Boyes, who stepped up as parent support throughout the week. A huge commitment for the management of any tournament team, and the girls were extremely lucky to receive the level of support they did throughout the week, and the entire season.
PREMIER NETBALL
Palmerston North was the location for the Iona Premier Netball team through tournament week, competing in the Lower North Island Secondary Schools' tournament. A busy schedule saw 10 matches completed across five days of competition, with our girls recording a number of strong wins, including winning two from two matches on Day 2. These victories came against Aotea College and Paraparaumu College and were then followed up with a third consecutive win on Tuesday morning against Newlands College, taking a close call with one goal separating the teams.
A further three matches were lost by margins of five goals or less, demonstrating just how close the competition was throughout the week. The team secured 24th place for 2025, building on last year's group and raising the bar by a couple of spots.
The tournament coaching and management team of Mindy Jowsey and Cat Treleaven poured hours of commitment into this group throughout tournament week, as they have done all season. Also, thanks to Megan Common in her assistant coaching role. Their support of the Premier Netball team is hugely appreciated!
1ST XI Football
The Iona 1st XI Football team were hosted at Park Island, Taradale for the Maurice Hulme tournament. A re-jigged draw in the week leading up, saw five pool matches across the first two and a half days. The Iona girls played some brilliant team football, combining for three wins and two draws from their pool-play match ups. These included strong 3-0 victories over both St Oran’s College and Whanganui Girls College, and a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Paraparaumu College.
Even though the girls had begun with an unbeaten run, unfortunately they missed out on the top eight playoff section by 1 point!!
Day 4 saw two further matches, including another great win over Kuranui College and a tight 0-1 loss to Heretaunga College in the afternoon. The final game for the Iona girls resulted in a 2-5 loss to a strong Green Bay High School, and an overall 12th placing for 2025. An exciting and encouraging result, with a very young squad.
The group were coached by Erin Sycamore, and Michelle Flood stepped into the manager role for tournament week. A huge thank you must go to both Erin and Michelle, for their incredible support of the team and hours dedicated to ensuring a great week was had by all those involved.
NISS EQUESTRIAN
A relatively new event to the NZ Secondary Schools Tournament Week is the addition of the North Island Secondary Schools' Equestrian Championships. This event works a little differently to other tournaments, as riders compete in multiple classes throughout the week, and need to place in the class to accumulate team points. Iona sent 17 riders to the National Equestrian Centre in Taupo to compete in a range of disciplines, including CTR, Dressage, Show Hunter, Arena Eventing and Showjumping.
Our Iona Navy Team with Zoe Corbin, Eve Hunter, Hazel Hunter, Lily Kent, Tessa Moffett and Anya Wade won the Arena Eventing Championship, placed 7th in the Dressage Championship and finished 5th overall out of 79 teams. An incredible result and the highest Iona has ever placed! Our Intermediate girls (Lucy Harrison, Olive Menzies, Libby Symes & Maggie Wilde) compete in a separate Year 7/8 competition. They were 1st in the Jumping, 1st in the Dressage and finished in 2nd place overall, another outstanding result. A couple of individual highlights were Ella Powdrell taking out the North Island Pony Show Hunter Trophy, being the highest scoring pony. Zita Pedersen won the 95cm and Zoe Corbin won the 80cm Pony Arena Eventing classes.
A massive thank you to all the parents who supported our riders throughout the week. From driving the girls to the event, to coordinating student volunteers, to assisting the judges with dressage writing. We simply couldn’t send a team without your support!
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Article added: Wednesday 03 September 2025
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