What an incredible day of sportsmanship, school spirit, and fierce competition! We recently hosted our annual sports exchange with Te Aroha College, and the energy around the school was electric.
A Warm Welcome: The Pōwhiri
The day officially kicked off with a powerful pōwhiri, welcoming our guests from Te Aroha College. Beyond being a traditional welcome, it set the tone for the entire exchange—one built on respect, camaraderie, and shared passion for sport. Once the formalities concluded, the atmosphere shifted to pure excitement as our athletes took to their respective courts and fields.
School Spirit during on Full Display
If there’s one thing that stole the spotlight, it was the show of school spirit! It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying themselves and to see the handmade signs, banners, and relentless cheers for their friends and classmates. That “Positive Vibes” sideline energy pushed our teams to give everything they had across all codes—volleyball, basketball, badminton, rugby, football, golf, and netball.
MVP Honourees
To wrap up an unforgettable day of competition, we celebrated the individual standout performances across each sport. A massive congratulations to the MVPs named from both schools!
🏫 Thames High School MVPs
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Senior Boys Basketball: Tokolia Turner
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Senior Girls Basketball: Simmrat Kaur
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Badminton: Ricky Anson & Oscar Zhang
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Volleyball: Jess Rendall
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Netball: Dimple Martin
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Golf: Chris Killian
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Senior Girls Football: Jess Rendall (a double MVP day!)
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Girls Rugby: Gracie Miller
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Boys Rugby: Carson Fletcher
🏫 Te Aroha College MVPs
*Apologies if we have spelled any of these names wrong from Te Aroha College
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Senior Boys Basketball: Janzter Manjar
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Senior Girls Basketball: Amo Waititi-Moana
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Badminton: Kenshin Jayme & Yihan Li
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Volleyball: Elayna
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Netball: Sophie
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Golf: Brody Dowall
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Senior Girls Football: Sophie Ellerson
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Girls Rugby: Sophie
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Boys Rugby: Connor Wood
A huge thank you to everyone who made this exchange possible—the coaches, referees, staff, volunteers, and the supporters who brought the noise! And of course, a massive shoutout to Te Aroha College for making the trip and bringing top-tier competition to every single matchup.
We’re already counting down the days until sports exchange 2027! 💥🙌
Photos include some (the very cool artistic ones) taken by Jonas Patrman Year 12.
