Tauranga Boys’ College won the Super 8 volleyball title for the 11th consecutive year this week. Thomas Reid is the captain of the team. He is confident that the defending national champions are in good shape to be the top volleyball school in New Zealand again.
Tell us about the round robin matches in the Super 8 tournament?
We played three matches and beat Hastings BHS, New Plymouth BHS and Gisborne BHS. We won the first two matches in straight sets, but dropped a set to Gisborne which was really disappointing. We played poorly in that match and got a rev up from the coaches.
In the final you beat a competitive New Plymouth Boys’ High School outfit?
Yeah we won 25-19, 25-20 and 27-25. They really stretched us in the third set taking us to a tie breaker. New Plymouth hosted the tournament and made the final for the first time. They have really improved which is great. In fact the entire tournament was of a much higher standard this year.
Caleb Aperahama, MVP at the Nationals last year, has left school. How have you gone about replacing him?
Caleb is a big loss because. He gave us huge height and power. Last year I was a setter, this year I have more time with the ball and more licence to attack. Kyle Hamilton is the main replacement player for Caleb. He is a Year 11 with huge potential. He is a really exciting and aggressive player.
How have you found the captaincy role?
I have really enjoyed it. I see my key role as motivating the boys.’ When they get down or lazy I move the blockers around or fire them up. I get a lot of support from our coaches Mike Akkerman and Ben Ormsby who are both former New Zealand reps.
What’s next for Tauranga?
We have the Bay of Plenty championships in a couple of week’s time. The top four sides from this event will go to the National champions as the top ranked schools so it really important we perform and get a good draw. I think our biggest challenge will be beating Otumoetai College. We play for the Schroder trophy which is named after the Schroder family who have made a big contribution to the sport at school.