Otago sent two teams away to the U19 National Tournament in Auckland over Queen’s Birthday weekend. 

Our U19 men won 4 out of 6 games and finished in 9th place beating Tasman the last day.  The lads had some very close games and despite dealing with injuries and youth all season, they competed each game.  Click here for all results and here for the roster.  Photos for the boys can be found online courtesy of Davina Wong.  BBNZ photos can be found here.  

U19 Otago Team

George Bright 

Alex Byars

Nga Cruden

Nathan Hanna

Xavier Herbert

Mitchell Hughan

Scott Kitto (North Otago)

Tai Porima-Flavell

Ben Reeves

Harley Ruru

Josh Stoddard

Tyler Summers

Head Coach - Greg Brockbank

Assistant Coach - Jeff Cheshire

Managers - Rachel Hanna and Glenda Kaan

Recap of the season from Coach Greg Brockbank.

“The U19 Men had a long build up to a short season, starting in January and taking two teams to regionals in April and ending up 1st and 3rd. As per normal in this age group, the team that was taken to Nationals was hit by several injuries and players becoming unavailable. The boys showed they could play with the best of them early in the tournament but suffered from a lack of big game experience and came up short in their top 8 decider. The determination of the team showed as they bounced back from this tough loss and won their last three games by 3 or less to take out 9th place. All in all a great experience, with everyone contributing and getting better, some boys to watch for in the future from this group.”

The U19 Southern Zone Ladies team finished in 8th place, after not entering a team since 2015.  The combined efforts of the Southland and Otago ladies paid off as they continued to show improvement over the course of the tournament.  Full results can be found here, team roster here, photos from the team courtesy of Maine Johnson are online and BBNZ photos are online here.  

U19 Southern Zone Team

Sahdina Anderson (SBA)

Alex Bennett (ESBA)

Tyra Dunn (SBA)

Elly Koehler (SBA)

Olivia McManaway (Tauranga)

Olivia O’Neill (Otago)

Rebecca Paterson (Otago)

Kendra Robinson (Otago)

Alana Wouters (CBA)

Head Coach - Gerard Mullin

Coach Mentor - Bert Tobias

Assistant Coach & Manager - Maine Johnson

Recap of the tournament from Coach Gerard Mullin:

“It was exciting to have a team entered into this age group after a few years of absence. Eighth a fair finish, top six was our target. Auckland teams were stronger and more physical. We had a great game against Canterbury, were within 11 points and they finished 3rd.  It was a shoot out against Tauranga who dropped three threes in the starting minute, coaches did say to close out! Beating Tauranga in pool play ensured our progress to top eight. Boxing out and Trans D were focuses for improvement at the tournament and the team was playing off Maine’s whiteboard for last game against Counties, who we came back strongly against. 

It was great to be able to provide pathways for Southland players alongside Otago to make up a Southern Zone team. A big thanks to Dan, Diane and Jill from Southland for their support and Nat and Justin Otago for theirs. A Big thumbs up to Bert Tobias who was coach mentor from Southland and Assistant Coach / Manager extraordinaire Maine Mareko. 

The team was well led by Olivia O’Neill providing high levels of expectation. Elly and Becky provided the rest of the leadership and team moral. Our imports from Tauranga and Canterbury Liv and Alana were sterling and a welcome addition to Otago for their University years. Post Alex played big and gave worthy contributions and we look forward to her involvement next year alongside her two Southland cohorts of Tyra and Sahdina who impressed with their skill set. As always defence wins games and Kendra often demanded starts given the task of closing down National players who could post and play guards. Thanks team for a fun time and making good memories. Coach G.”