On Wednesday 31st May, seven students from Years 7 and 8 travelled to the Cross Recreation Centre in Balclutha to compete in the second challenge for Top Team. The Top Team competition is open to all schools in the Clutha district and challenges students in their sporting abilities, strength, teamwork and general knowledge to see which school will reign Top Team supreme. 

Wednesday night saw the challenge begin with the teams from schools broken down to smaller groups for a quiz. The afternoon quiz was a series of absolute random trivia and an animal round complete with noises.

Next was the physical component, and students were introduced to the game of Ultimate Frisbee. Ultimate Frisbee combines the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of football with the aerial passing skills of netball and the game is played by two teams on the court with end zones, similar to touch rugby.  The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone. A player must stop running while in possession of the disc, but may pivot and pass to any of the other receivers on the field. Ultimate is a transition game in which players move quickly from offense to defense on turnovers that occur with a dropped pass, an interception, a pass out of bounds, or when a player is caught holding the disc for more than five seconds. This game combines fun, creativity, speed, technique, teamwork and quick thinking.

Off to a slow start, TCAS were forced to tone down the powerful throws and the wild curving throws in favour of shorter, flatter passes.  Spectacular intercepts, tumbles, skids and one handed pirouette catches were becoming part of the show by the third round and the entertainment on the court had the spectators in fits of laughter. The passing accuracy and communication between team mates resulted in two losses, one draw and one win. 

Teams came back together for the challenge component. This was to build the tallest standing tower using only the shoes they were wearing, in the time of two minutes. A successful tower was built and guarded so the patent design could not be stolen, only to watch it fall in the last seconds. 

Top Team will be back for Term 3 on Thursday 7th of September and the kids are already excited by the prospect.