2010 ANNUAL REPORT - AllTeams

city under 6 cityThis year saw some of our players from 2009 move to the Under 7s however weretained fi ve players from the squad – it was great to see Cyan, Jed, Juelz, Lexand Zavier back. We welcomed Alizae, Regan and his younger brother Charlie,George, Lucky, Soul and Zac to the team.Coach Chantal (Shorty) Baker was back on deck with help from Assistant Coach(and brother) Cale Baker. We also took a new team name this season havingpreviously been Ponsonby White. It was fantastic to have everyone on board,especially the parents who are always offering to lend a hand and of courseour awesome Grandparents who are our biggest supporters and our loudestcheerleaders!The team grew and advanced in their skills week by week with Shorty addingintensity and expecting more from the players who were “seasoned players”.The new additions showed no hesitation in keeping up and the results showedon the scoreboard each Saturday. The season ended with 13 games played, 2defaults (mainly due to Auckland weather), one draw and one loss. A fantasticresult which saw us top of the table in the Ponsonby Junior Team Section.Juelz again lead the way not only as top try scorer for the season but also Playerof the Year for 2010. Lex, Regan George and Lucky also contributed substantiallyon the scoreboard weekly.It was great to watch players over the season and see their understanding of thegame develop. Soul, Jed, Zavier and Zac were all key members of the team withour youngest player Charlie showing what a great asset he will be as a playeras well as a personality in years to come.The end of season team trophies were awarded as follows:Player of the Year – Juelz BakerBest Sportsmanship – Alizae KumtoaMost Improved Player – Cyan TuckerHighlights included a visit from Ponsonby Premier, Auckland and Blues Player– Chris Lowrey. The team was very excited to have him with us for a game– giving the boys guidance and encouragement and some valuable (secret) rugbyskills. We were also extremely fortunate to be selected for a segment with SmallBlacks TV for their “Small Blacks on Tour” which focused on the parents behindthe scenes, the VIP’s (Very Important Parents). It was amazing fun to work withsuch a great team of people behind the scenes of Small Blacks and of courseJason, who was truly amazing with the boys! The team loved every minute ofit and thankfully while being fi lmed we managed to secure a win – which isalways good for the camera!A huge thank you again to the team for their efforts with the raffl e ticketfundraising. Lex’s family gave us a run for selling the most again, but won handsdown. We did an awesome job, raising $450 which enabled the boys to receivea Ponsonby Rugby polar fl eece vest at the end of the season with the proceedsand a sweetener for the coach so hopefully she will be back next year.A big thank you to everyone at Ponsonby Rugby, especially the Junior Committeefor their support this year. To the boys for an amazing season – you were apleasure to coach and manage. A huge thank you to the VIPs: the Coaches,Manager and the team enthusiasts (parents/family), who turn up every week inthe cold, the rain and the mud. It was worth it. See you in 2011!Joanne EdmondsManagercity under 6 Springs2010 saw a fresh crop of rugby players join the Ponies club. The Springs teamwas made up of boys who were entirely new to rugby from ages 4 - 6. The seasonstart saw the team learn the basics of ripper rugby and it took a fair while for thelads to catch on that there were sidelines that they had to stay within.The favourite Thursday training drill to start was to “play the parents”. TheThursday training sessions had great turn-outs every week and the resultsshowed on the fi eld when we started to score tries and win games. The emphasisthough was on introducing the boys to rugby as a fun sport and there sure wasa lot of fun had at training and during the skill building games. Bull rush was afi rm favourite and the boys defi nitely picked up many skills like “turn and pass”,defence and swerving to score tries.Congratulations go to Louis Anderson-Sellar for our “Best Player” award for2010. Louis scored many tries and was also very good on defence, savingmany tries from being scored. Lukas Stamers-Smith was awarded our “MostImproved Player” award. I hear Lukas now only watches rugby on TV as heis an avid fan of the game and it was great to see him improve to be a greatripper and scorer of tries. Jack Lithgow was our “Best Performed” player. Hescored many great tries and can defi nitely run like the wind. Andrew Samuelsgot our “Sportsmanship” award as he was at every training and at every gamewith a smile on his face. He scored some great tries as the season was ending.That shows character.The rest of our boys played really well all season. Carlos Morrison-McIver scoreda breakaway try against Marist; Finn Evans loved to defend and will forever beremembered holding aloft his fi rst rip yelling out he got a “rip”! Jack Trickett lovedto run smiling when ball was in hand, even when he scored his tries. Jack Irelandfound a turn of speed to score several tries and Elliot Ireland loved chasing his bigbrother. Mathew Hucker’s smile when he got Player of the Day was outstandingand Levi Hartley’s smile when he ran and passed the ball without getting rippedwas the best. Sam Paranihi scored one of the season’s best away tries againstEden and fi nally, little Red Lithgow also managed to cross the line. I expect we’llsee more of Red barrelling up the middle in coming years.No team is complete without its manager and our manager Nicola Pye wasfantastic, even taking over coaching duties when I was away and Will had troublekeeping the boys under control. A big shout out to Nicola for organising all ofour oranges, sweets, awards and even arranging sponsorship (thanks to Electrixand Buy this Car for jackets for our boys). It’s not easy keeping 13 kids at bayat the end of the game when you are holding a bag full of lollies.City Under 6 Springs was also lucky to have an assistant coach and Will Stamers-Smith was always there helping the boys learn some valuable rugby skills. Infact the team had its fi rst win under the guidance of Will’s hands. Thanks Willfor all the support.Thanks also to the parents, our supporters who were at trainings and gamesweek in and week out. We had great sideline support and I hope it continues.It was a great start to rugby for the Under 6 Springs team and I was proud ofthe effort, the progress and of the fun that we all had.Mike ParanihiCoachKelston under 6 PoniesA great year for the kids! We had a large team this year with many in theirsecond year in the Under 6s. The boys with us last year kick started the yearand led the way.Siolo Fruean (future All Black!) led from the front, was always there to takethe off-load and his burst of pace never failed to score. Karlos and HaarePewhairangi-Charlie were always amongst the play and astounded us all withtheir amazing side stepping ability and pace.There was some remarkable change in effort throughout the year as theenthusiasm grew - Harry Muir, Ciaran Meredith and Lachlan Holt spring tomind - well done guys!Saturday mornings were eagerly awaited by all and we had some great closelyfought games. There looks to be some real talent coming through the club forthe future.Congratulations to our prizewinners: Siolo Fruean – Player of the Year, Harry Muir- Most Improved, Ciaran Meredith - Best Performed and Karlos Pewhairangi-Charlie – Sportsmanship.Brendon MuirCoach40 Ponsonby District Rugby Football Club (Inc.)