2013 School Magazine Dec, 2013 | Page 40

The biggest blow to badminton this year was the loss of ‘super coach’, Brent Robertson to Wellington. Unfortunately, this meant the teams went through the season coach-less. In saying that, they still did remarkably well. The school had nine teams again this year, five girls and four boys. We could have entered eight girls’ teams, but transportation became the issue and we ended up limiting the teams to five. The A grade girls’ team once again competed strongly and eventually finished second. This was done without HB U17 rep, Alicia Robertson, who was unable to play for the school due to work commitments. Caitlin King, Neesha Johnson, Akane Hirose and Alice Gee with backup from Natalya Taylor were able to get the job done. They lost to champions, Napier Girls’, three times and Taradale in a countback once. Their interschool fixture against Tawa saw the team win comprehensively, 6-0. The B grade girls’ team were not as dominant as last year, and their loss to Karamu was their only defeat in the last two years. They ended up second with a changed team. Anna Milne and Alexandra Linnell were joined by Alice Guerin and Eileen Xie, with an occasional cameo from Natalya Taylor. It was the C grade girls