The annual Winter Tournament Week continued to produce some mixed results for Whakatāne and Trident high school teams.

Both schools had several teams representing them in various sports at tournament week and some performed better than others.

The standout was the Trident premier netball girls’ who finished second at UNISS to earn a spot at the National Secondary School Championships in October.

Another standout team was the Mark Pouwhare-coached Whakatāne High School 10-a-side rugby team, which took out their tournament.

They produced some cracking rugby to win the final 19-12 over Otumoetai at the Napier Marist Old Boys’ Rugby Club.

Pouwhare said it was special for the team to win because it had been “an up and down season” to date.

“We played seven round robin games, won all seven and then played semi and final, and obviously won both, so nine straight wins. I’m stoked for the boys. We've had an up-down season, but to go away and win the 10s was a great reward for the boys' efforts, not just at the tournament, but all year.”

He said it was a fitting reward for some of his team who had never won anything when it came to rugby.

It was an interesting week on the football fields for both schools with Trident’s boys’ team finishing ninth at the Linwood Cup in Dunedin.

The Trident girls attended the Maurice Hulme Cup in Napier and produced some solid football but finished 17th overall.

Whakatāne High School’s boys’ football team had a tough week but won when it mattered thanks to some Aidan Hogg magic to finish 30th out of 32 teams at the Trident Tournament in Rotorua.

Their female counterparts attended the Grant Jarvis Cup in Hamilton and finished 11th out of 24 teams to cap off a solid week of football.

In Dunedin, it was a tough week for the Trident High School first XI boys’ hockey team who battled away strongly but lacked the depth to compete with the top teams in the country.

Playing in the Rankin Cup and India Shield for the first time is something they should be proud of, however, next year they drop back down to a lower tier tournament.

Whakatāne Girls’ High School were playing in the Federation Cup Marie Fry Cup in Whangarei and while it was a tough week for them, too, they stood up when it counted and secured their spot in the tournament next year by finishing 28th out of 32 teams.

Their two-all draw with Otumoetai that saw Whakatāne win in a shootout 504 was enough to see them retain their spot.

They managed five goals throughout the week with Madeleine Carter and Addison Davis bagging two each, and skipper Addie Tetze scoring the other.

Competing in the Jenny Hair Cup in Wellington, the Trident High School first XI girls finished 12th.

Trident High School’s two rugby league teams competing in Auckland finished 9th and 16th.

The junior side won the Plaque final in the boys’ under-15 carnival, while the seniors finished 16th out of 19 teams in the Senior Boys’ championship division.

Trident High School cyclist Jacques Collombet finished 12th in the under-20 division at the Northern Cycle Tour in what was a quality field.

Whakatāne High School’s badminton teams showed some real promise with the girls finishing ninth overall in their tournament and the boys’ managing 25th.

Trident High School managed to finish 12th, and Whakatāne High School 16th, in the Secondary Schools AA Zone Tournament held in Rotorua.

The schools played each other in the ninth to 16th section with Trident winning, 69-59.

Ashlee Officer and Rylee Cranswick performed strongly at the North Island Secondary Schools Equestrian Cup in Taupo.

The Whakatāne High School senior A netball team also competed at UNISS and, after winning B grade in 2025, were promoted a division in 2026. They were unable to match it with the top schools, finishing 32nd out of 32 schools, so will drop back down to B grade in 2027.

Their highlight was the victory they picked up over Mount Maunganui College, their only win of the week.