University of Auckland cements top status in tertiary sport
University of Auckland cements top status in tertiary sport
with third
title
The
University of Auckland has triumphed as Overall National
Tertiary Champion once again, holding the University and
Tertiary Sport Shield aloft for the third year in a row.
The 95-year-old inter-tertiary shield was presented to the University’s sports director Louis Rattray on Sunday night, upon completion of the 2018 National Tertiary Basketball Championship at AUT stadium on the North Shore. The shield is awarded to the tertiary institution which accumulates the most points from competing in a series of national tertiary championships (NTC) throughout the year.
The basketball tournament was the final event of the NTC calendar. Over 1,100 tertiary students competed at the top level in ten sports from badminton to ultimate frisbee across five NZ cities.
While Auckland did not secure the silverware in
the basketball (Lincoln University took out the women’s
title and the University of Otago the men’s) the
students in blue have proved themselves the athletes to
beat, leading the overall UTSNZ points table throughout the year
and eventually closing out their nearest rival the
University of Waikato by 22 points with an overall tally of
99.
This was
thanks to their gold-medal winning performances in half of
the sports contested;
3x3 basketball (men’s), futsal
(women’s), badminton (mixed), volleyball (men’s) and
ultimate frisbee (mixed) and second place finishes in three
competitions; futsal (men’s), table tennis (men’s and
women’s) and volleyball (women’s).
University of Auckland’s
acting sports manager Tracey Spray attributes their
sustained performance to the trifecta of communication,
dedicated resource and on-campus engagement.
“We set expectations of our competing teams and ensure our coaches and student leaders are on board with that. These are mostly around representing themselves and the University of Auckland to the best of their ability and working as a team while building a positive culture,” she said.
Spray went on to highlight the role her team undertakes to “focus on the student experience as that is what tertiary sport means to us. From a management perspective we try to do everything we can to ensure the players can just play and the coaches can just coach.”
Spray acknowledges the second-placed University of Waikato has provided challenging competition:
“They performed well throughout the year, with some of their women’s teams in particular showing their strength by winning the women’s rugby sevens, hockey and volleyball competitions. They’ve got some great athletes and staff and I’m sure they will be a real threat to our hold on the shield next year.”
Associate Director of Campus Life, Sport and Recreation Louis Rattray attributed the University of Auckland’ shield success to a wider programme of sport:
“For us, we’ve created an
ecosystem around sport so whilst this is great to be winning
at the top level, our system supports people playing sport
at all levels. We put as much effort, if not more, into our
social leagues and inter-faculty leagues, and then what
spills out of that is quality competition at the top.”
The importance of providing opportunities for
all levels of student participation was also reinforced by
UTSNZ Executive Director Sarah
Anderson.
“Tertiary institutions provide an
ideal setting to keep 18-24-year olds in sport; not just by
offering them representative opportunities but helping them
to make social networks, broaden their university experience
and develop new skills such as leadership and
organisation,” emphasised
Anderson.
“Tough
games aside, these championships also foster university
pride and a sense of identity. Students tell us that while
strong competition is important to them, they love the team
culture, the chance to make new friends and cement existing
ones, being able to play against other tertiary students and
the awesome atmosphere that creates,” says
Anderson.
The
University of Auckland’s student-athletes back this up.
Men's volleyball team member and Bachelor of Education
student James Anderson
explains:
“Playing sport
at university has meant I am able to continue my passion for
volleyball while studying. The experiences, relationships
and memories I have formed have greatly enhanced my time at
university and have ensured that I have been able to
maintain a good healthy balance."
Mark Xu, a Bachelor of Engineering student, has welcomed the chance to expand his circles by playing in the UoA tertiary men's and Engineering Eagles basketball teams:
“Being involved with basketball at uni has given me the opportunity to meet people from a wide range of backgrounds, experience different cultures and build relationships while staying fit and active.”
Maxine Cooper combines international and domestic representative futsal while studying a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery.
“I’ve met some amazing people while playing futsal for UoA. It really helps me to de-stress from my studies. Recently it has given me the opportunity to travel overseas to Kazakhstan to compete at the world uni champs, which was one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life," says the Futsal Fern, University of Auckland futsal captain and NZ world university team captain.
These wider benefits of
sport participation are becoming more of a focus for staff
and directors, as tertiary communities realise the role they
have to play in supporting student health and
well-being.
- ENDS
-
Background
For reference:
• 2018 National Tertiary Championship
results
• UTSNZ Overall Shield points
table
• Maxine Cooper’s winning speech at the 2018
National Tertiary Futsal Championship on 15 April
• Sarah Anderson and Louis Rattray’s prizegiving
speeches on 23 September (available on request)
2018 UTSNZ Shield final placings and points:
1. University of
Auckland (99)
2. University of Waikato (75)
3. Massey
University (59)
4. University of Canterbury
(53)
5. Victoria University of Wellington (50)
6. AUT
/ University of Otago (47)
7. Lincoln University
(40)
University sport has held a significant place in New Zealand's heritage of sporting success. Competitive inter-university sport first took place in New Zealand in 1902.
• Sport at an inter-campus level
originates back to the year 1900 when Canterbury College and
Otago University participated in a tennis match.
• A
proposal was put forward to organise the first formal
inter-university sports tournament which then became a
reality in 1902. Canterbury hosted the first Easter
inter-university tournament in which Canterbury, Auckland,
Otago and Victoria competed in athletics, tennis and
debating.
• Over the years further sports were added to
the competition. Boxing and shooting were added in 1921,
basketball in 1927, swimming in 1930 and rowing in
1932.
• Unveiled in 1923, the Shield (pictured) has
existed for 95 years.
• The first winner was the
University of Otago and they went on to hold the Shield
aloft 35 times, more than any other university in New
Zealand.
• The University of Auckland has won it 15
times, the University of Canterbury 14 and Victoria
University of Wellington ten. The University of Waikato and
Massey University have secured bragging rights a few times
(three and two respectively) and AUT has won it once over a
near century of Shield competition.
• Since a brand new
collectively funded member organisation was established as
University and Tertiary Sport New Zealand (UTSNZ) in late
2015, the inter-tertiary competition has moved from being
one big “Easter tournie” to a series of individual
championship events with a focus on top-level sporting
performance. The University of Auckland has been victorious
every year since the rebirth.
• In 2018 NZ’s
universities and where able, other tertiary institutions,
have competed in women’s sevens, 3x3 basketball, futsal,
table tennis, badminton, hockey, volleyball, ultimate
frisbee, 5x5 basketball and netball.