Staff Shining in Sport

Naomi Tupai'i

Naomi is an extremely talented Touch player and this year through her selection in the NZ Mixed Touch team, she is preparing to head to the UK to represent NZ at the World Cup Touch Championships to be held in Nottingham. From the 15th - 21st July 2024, Naomi will represent our country and be up against the best touch players in the world.

The photo gallery below paints a clear picture of Naomi and her amazing achievements on the Touch field over a number of years. This year is clearly a pinnacle year for Naomi as she wings her way to the UK for the World Cup. Awesome achievement!

We wish you all the very best Naomi, and your Trinity Catholic College Community is right behind you as you participate in this prestigious event! We look forward to hearing all about it when you return to us in Term 3.

Andrew Duncan

As the coach of the Otago U16 football side, Andrew is about to head overseas for the SupercupNI (formerly known as the Milk Cup). The SupercupNI is an invitation only tournament run annually across Northern Ireland. The cup began in 1983 with the idea of bringing together 17 year old boys of all backgrounds in sport during the height of the 'troubles'. It is now a huge event that caters for girls and boys at multiple age levels. Some teams that have participated in this event in the past include Barcelona, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and of course Otago! Famous players who have played in the tournament across the years include David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Trent Alexander Arnold and as many as 20 players currently at the Euro Champs being held in Germany. To be able to give players from little old Dunedin the chance to rub shoulders with the sport's superstars of the future is an amazing experience.

The Otago team is drawn from all over the lower South Island, from Invercargill to Wanaka to Timaru. The final travelling squad of 18 was whittled down from an original list of 50 trialists. The team has been training since January in preparation for the big event.

While in the UK we will spend a week in Manchester first where we will play Blackburn Rovers in a friendly. We will also visit Anfield and the Etihad Stadium as well as taking in a couple of pre-season friendlies that are on while we are there.  Once in Northern Ireland we will hopefully get to visit a few sites like Belfast, Derry and the Giant's Causeway before the tournament starts. Hamilton Accademicals and Rangers from Scotland, and County Tyrone from Northern Ireland make up the other teams in our pool. After that we have two more guaranteed games against teams potentially from Japan, Eire, USA, the UK or Mexico. It is very much an international event. I will be away for a period of two weeks. It is obviously a very exciting trip to be part of and I am very much looking forward to it. I am very grateful to the school for allowing me to attend and am appreciative of their support.