5th Edition of the Waimak Whisper
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 Welcome to the 5th Edition of the Waimak Whisper

To our junior players – welcome back – it seemed like a long break for school holidays after the first weekend was rained out!

Club Grocery Raffle

Thanks to all those who have already brought in your grocery item for the Club raffle.  This is gearing up to be a great fundraiser and our major one for the year.  The baskets of goodies will be fantastic prizes.  This should put tickets in hot demand and we thank you in advance for selling these.  The proceeds will go back into the club to assist with gear and equipment, and improving facilities that make our fantastic sport even more enjoyable.  Thanks to Claire for getting this fundraiser underway, and our wonderful coaches/managers and helpers for collecting the items.

Club Photos

The photos have arrived and will be distributed to teams this week via the coach or manager.

12^th Grade Boys Rep Team to Japan Cup

The 12^th grade boys attended the International Friendship games in Ashburton during the holidays.  The team finished 9^th out of 12 teams.  Most teams commented that our team was a lot smaller than most and we were a little younger too with three 11^th graders filling in in the squad. But they also commented that the boys battled hard and never gave up. The eventual winners were Canterbury Red who defeated Selwyn 2-0. (Same score our boys went down to Canterbury Red in their first game).  Our thanks to Gavin Brown (coach) and Warwick Cassidy (manager), and the other parents who transported the boys each day.  (full scores available on the website)

Representative Team Opportunities

We are currently in the process of appointing our North Canterbury Rep coaches for South Island tournaments in September/October.  Following these appointments trials will be advertised so keep an eye on the website.  The trials are open to all players. Coaches begin the trial process afresh with an eye to which players can do the job in a number of games over several days.  These coaches are keen for trials to be well contested so that every player has to earn the right to represent North Canterbury.

Juniors - District Leagues
The 7^th grade is currently led by the Bears and the Red Bulls who have opened a gap on the chasing pack, and are due to meet twice in the last 2 games of the season so this league could go to the wire.  The 8^th and 9^th grades have one more round before playing their rained out weeks to decide the first round.  The Tigers narrowly lead the Rhinos and Rulers in 8^th grade.  While the Hawks and Razors remain tied at the top in 9^th grade.  The 10^th grade play their final round before splitting into 2 sections.  Currently the Amberley Amigos are 3 points clear of the Rebels.
Juniors - Mainland Competition
Our teams continue to do well in the Christchurch competitions.  The 10B’s have done a great job gaining promotion to Div 2 as their league begins round 2.  The 11^th grade A, B, and C teams all finished the first round in 2^nd place and now aim to do one better in the 2^nd round.  Our 12^th grade boys in Div 2 and 5 are leading their leagues while the Div 4 teams holds 2^nd.  The 13^th grade Div 3 team is tied at the top of their league and the Div 4 team is 3^rd.  In 14^th grade both our Div 1 team and Div 4 team are in 2^nd place.  The 15^th boys won the 1^st round.  The 17^th grade Div 1 team is 3^rd and the Div 4 boys are leading their new league.  The 19^th grade Div 1 and 2 teams also lead their new leagues after 2 rounds.  In the girls leagues our U19 girls are 2^nd, the 16^th girls are 3^rd in Div 2, and the 14^th girls are 4^th in Div 1.  In the 12^th grade girls, our Div 1 team are 1^st equal, and the two Div 2 teams are 2^nd and 3^rd.  Incredibly that means that 85% of our teams are in the top 4 in their league.  Go the mighty Waimak!

Senior Women
The Senior Women’s first team had a good hard fought win in the weekend and a win next weekend will give them 4^th place in the league.  This would be an excellent results given that most of the players are under 18 and could still be playing junior football.  The 2^nd team have guaranteed themselves 2^nd place in Division Three.

Senior Men

The senior men have played a combination of league and cup matches throughout the season.  Unfortunately none of our teams are in the cup finals this year.  The Masters Div 2 United team, and Div 3 Silver Streaks will play off for 3^rd and 4^th.  However the Horton Signs Division One team have consolidated their 5^th position and a run of good results could seem them take 4^th in the league.  The Presidents A team are sitting 3^rd in their league and the Presidents B team have moved to the top of the table.  Congratulations to the Rovers who gained a 1nil victory over league leaders Amberley, in the weekend. 

Junior Player Academy for 7th, 8th, & 9th grade
The junior academy has had its 2^nd session.  It is great to see the enthusiasm these young players have for extra training and it wouldn’t happen without the volunteer hours our academy coaches are putting in with them, and the wonderful sponsorship from Nigel and the team at Sportsworld North Canterbury.

Go the mighty Waimak!!

If you would like to help sponsor the Waimak Whisper by seeing your business at the top and on our website contact Pam Fraser