Scotch College

Successful NZ tour for Scotch soccer

A tour of New Zealand by soccer players from Years 9, 10 and 11 was successful on many counts.

Words: MICHAEL HOPWOOD AND NICK JARMAN • YEAR 11

Easter Monday 2008 saw 15 bleary-eyed boys meet at Melbourne Airport for the inaugural Scotch College New Zealand soccer tour. The trip, escorted by Coach Mr Patouras and Manager Mr Zannoni, lasted two weeks, and comprised six games against the best schools the South Island of New Zealand had to offer. During our travels we also had ample time to sightsee and visit many of New Zealand’s natural wonders.

After a tour of Christchurch, and Mr Zannoni’s disbelief that there was a town called ‘11a.m.’ (actually Ilam), we played our first match against the prestigious St Bede’s College. While St Bede’s enjoyed the majority of possession, our side was able to grab a good 2-0 win, with Anthony Tran and Nick Jarman each scoring classic goals. This win was particularly impressive as all of the boys playing for not only St Bede’s but all of the schools we played were 1st XI sides consisting of much bigger, stronger boys. We were a development side.

Our next game was against Whakatipu State High School in Queenstown, the adventure sport capital of the world. Despite good goals from Versace Wong and Anthony Tran, we were unable to capitalise on our chances, or stop Whakatipu, who ended up winning 4-2.

The following day we were free to explore Queenstown, and most boys decided to go shopping. The time off also saw the team go on the Shotover Jet Boat Ride and luging (tobogganing) down Mt Lomond, both at breakneck speeds.

We next ventured to the surreal Milford Sound and the beautiful Fiordland National Park which surrounds it. Te Anau was our next stop, where we saw the indescribable glow-worm caves.

Next we travelled further south to Dunedin, but not before a stop in the country town of Gore, where our opponents were Gore Junior Wanderers. On a warm day, Scotch was able to overwhelm the country team 2-1 in a match we dominated, with two goals again to Anthony Tran. The next day in Dunedin, we toured the town known as ‘Little Edinburgh’.

That afternoon we played our best opponents, Otago Boys High School, and in completely opposite conditions to the previous day. Riddled with mounting injuries, we lost 6-2, with a further two goals by Tran. This was despite a very brave showing by every boy in the team.

A six-hour bus trip up the highway returned us to Christchurch for the remaining two games in three days. In our second-last match we played St Andrew’s College. We lost this match 4-1 on a windswept pitch, but learned a valuable lesson about playing as a team. Last but not least, we played Rangiora High School. On a small pitch, we won our last game 1-0 in a very hard fought match, with the key goal coming from Versace Wong just seven minutes from time. This was a good note to finish on, as it left the team with a fair three wins and three losses.

This was a very successful tour. The team bonded together well, and a vast improvement was made by a number of boys during the tour, with younger players stepping up owing to injuries to some of the more senior players. Congratulations to everyone, and especially to Justin Nikolovski and Anthony Tran, who won the ‘best on tour’ and ‘coach’s award’ respectively. This trip showed Scotch soccer has a lot of potential to set a high standard in the future. Finally, a big thank you to Mr Zannoni and Coach Mr Patouras for making it all possible.
GS