Student Profiles

I enjoy Athletics because I can challenge myself, and train with my friends. The St Peter’s Athletics culture is a perfect mix of fun, hard work, support and lots of laughs. Coaches Russek and Waddell make sure every single athlete can be the best they can be no matter what.

My favourite training set is 400s and 200s because although they are so hard! My season goals are to keep doing personal bests in the 800m and 1500m, and qualify for a final at NZSS.

Other sports I you enjoy playing are Cricket, Cross Country and Football.

My most memorable moment in athletics was breaking the 1500m record in year 8. I trained with the St Peters Squad throughout the season. It was my first big achievement and it felt great to complete a goal that you have been working hard to achieve.

Something about me that not many people would know is that I take Agriculture/Horticulture at school and own my own calves and a beehive.

My name is Amy Sciascia and I am an Allstar Cheerleader.

I have been a member of the St Peter’s Diamonds cheer team for four years and have had many accomplishments over the years. As well as school cheerleading I am also a member of the Allstar Cheerleading team in Hamilton.

This year I made it into the New Zealand Development team and I am so honoured to have the opportunity to train with such an accomplished group of athletes.

I began cheerleading in Year 7 after watching my sister at her competitions. The sport is enjoyable and thrilling and there is something new to learn at every practice. Once I started I couldn't stop!

What I love about cheerleading is the gymnastic skills we learn and meeting great people from teams all around the country and internationally. I have met so many lovely, inspiring team members and coaches, making life long-lasting friendships. The team bond we have is insane and we have complete trust in each other.

The thing I find challenging about Cheer is the tough hard practices. When all seems too much, you push through for your teammates and it is such a rewarding feeling.

My advice I would give anyone looking at starting the sport would be to go for it. You're never going to know what it is like till you try it. Grab a whole bunch of your friends and make it fun. The most important qualities of a cheerleader are to have a positive attitude and a great mindset!

I grew up in a passionate cricketing family and would always watch it on TV with dad. I loved the sport from the beginning as my love for the game grows more every day.

I enjoy the competitiveness of cricket and loves how the game is never lost until it’s won. I really enjoy been able to spend all Saturday playing the game I love with my mates. The long Saturdays bring an endless amount of banter which is always fun.

My Cricket goals are to play professional Cricket for the Blackcaps, but I would be happy to play for any team, as long as I am playing cricket.

I also play other sports; rugby from a young age and have found a recent interest in golf.

Charli has won several New Zealand Cross Country and Track titles, running middle distance events from 1500m - 5km.

She recently won the NZ Senior Women 5000m Title and was chasing a World Junior U20 Qualification time before Covid-19 arrived and all events suspended.

Earlier this year she won the New Zealand Secondary School U19 Triathlon Title, a huge achievement considering she uses triathlon as cross training and only become competitive in the three disciplines over the last few years.

Charli often demonstrates resilience and her commitment to being the best she can be is rewarded by her results. Currently in Year 13, she is pursuing opportunities to study and run for a track team in the United States.

I started playing soccer when I was three years old. My mum and dad took me along with my brother to “Lynn Avon United Small Fries”.
Being a good footballer takes a lot of hard work and determination, willing to learn and try new skills, a positive attitude and demonstrate good body language.
I take my inspiration and motivation from my dad, because he is a good role model and has achieved a lot in football. He always shows a determined work ethic.
I actually enjoy the hard sessions like running and high intensity work rates more than slow intensity sessions.
Managing school work can be difficult because I also play Premier Men’s Football with evening trainings. Time management is very important. I often work in my lunch times and weekends to get everything completed.
My long-term goals are to be a professional goalkeeper and also the best goalkeeper New Zealand has ever produced.

I began playing football in 2010 when I was 5 years old. I started to play because my brother played and I wanted to be like him. My favourite part of the game is the enjoyment of being with my friends although I also like the challenge of the technical side of football.

I am also involved in other sports, competing at two National Triathlon Championships coming first and sixth. I play futsal for Waikato and well as mounting biking and road cycling. I participated in a lot of sports when I was younger; trampolining, skiing, touch, hockey, basketball, athletics, swimming, climbing.
My short-term goal is to get back to full fitness after surgery. Unlike other injuries, surgery has to take its time to heal. I had my surgery in January. I am currently starting to ease back into sport by going for 40-minute rides every second day and I have been doing strength and conditioning for around five weeks.

My long-term goal is to keep loving the sport and I believe that if I do this, I could go far. First of all, I want to represent New Zealand and furthermore play for a well-ranked club overseas.

My name is Ing Iadpluem, I come from Thailand. I'm a St Peter's student in year 11 and a competitive golfer. I compete across all levels; School, Club, Provincial and International.

I first started playing golf at the age of nine. My dad bought me a plastic golf club and he took me to a driving range. I became part of the St Peter's 1st golf team when I was in year 9. I enjoy studying but really love playing golf at St. Peter's and being part of the team.

I’ve had a few golf trips to the USA and they have been great experience. In 2017, I finished 4th in Junior World Golf Championship.
In 2018, I won the Optimist International Junior Golf Championship.

2019 was a busy and probably my best year yet. Our St Peter's 1st golf team won the Ieremia Trophy for the 4th straight year. I also finished first in the Enagic Junior Championship Asia final tournament and finished third at the Optimist International in the United States.

My coach and teammates call me 'the smiling beast' which I have written on my playing glove to remind me to be aggressive and smile.
Golf has taught me many good life lessons. Work hard and don't give up is the main path to help you achieve your goals. Always believe that anything and everything is possible, oh and don't forget to smile.

I really want to thank my coaches Simon and Reon for helping me and giving me a chance to be part of such a great team. We are building a big reputation as THE golf school in New Zealand and in my home Country. I would encourage everyone to play sport, because sport doesn't only give you a healthy and strong body. It also practices your punctuality, responsibility and leadership. Sport helps to meet good people and a good society. More importantly, sport makes you learn from your mistakes. It also gives you a better attitude in life and lots more life lessons.

I began at St Peters in year 8 and have been competitively playing hockey for all 5 years of being here.
My motivation to play hockey at St Peters has come from the awesome atmosphere and culture, created from the other boys in the team.
So far, the biggest highlight of hockey at St Peters has been winning tournament week last year which has emphasised the hard work and dedication from the team.
A long-term goal I have for hockey at St Peters is to contribute in progressing the team enough to participate in the top tier secondary school tournament called Rankin cup.
Achieving this goal will set a challenge of balancing my academics with hockey however, participating in this sport has shown me how important it is getting into an efficient routine each day in order to make this possible.

My name is Arabella Barrio Frojan, I am currently in year 10 and have been at St Peter’s since year 7. I have been playing hockey for all my years at St Peter’s.

My favourite position to play is right striker because I like running around people, assists, and scoring goals. I also enjoy pressing to help in defence.

I play hockey because I love it and enjoy fighting for the ball one to one. I really like the team culture that comes with playing hockey.

My advice for anyone who is thinking of giving hockey a go would be to work hard on your fitness, concentrate on developing basic skills and listen to your coaches.

My goals for hockey would be to improve as a player and help St Peter's move up into tier two at tournament week this year.

Quotes:

“There may be people that have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you do.” – Derek Jeter

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”- Wayne Gretzky

I got involved with netball so I could be with my friends and I enjoy the competition within the netball environment.
My Ultimate goal is to make the Silver Ferns and be able to play in the World Cup in 2027.
Managing my sporting and academics is learning how to balance the two. I always find a way to fit in time to do a bit of study around my training because those times cannot be changed and if I have to give up a break during school I will and save some socializing during the weekends.
During the COVID-19 I have been doing all sorts of training. This includes fitness challenges, aerobic training, interval training, speed sessions, gym work and most importantly, recovery (Not too many).

I got into Rowing at St Peter’s as both of my sisters rowed so I decided to give it a go.

I really like the competitive atmosphere and the friends I have made through the sport. Through my final years in the St Peter’s program I understand the opportunities rowing provides. I appreciate the coaches and parents that give up their time for us, that makes St Peter’s rowing so special.

I never thought I would reach this level of racing and being able to compete against high skilled rowers that have trained in singles for years. With the help of my coach Megan who challenged and pushed me to limits I didn’t think were possible, I reached my potential.

My proudest rowing achievement is getting bronze in the boys u18 double at North Island’s with Antonio. Antonio and I have been working really hard all season in the double.

I was very upset when Maadi 2020 was cancelled because I haven’t been to Twizel before. This was the first year I have been competitive in my field

After four years of rowing at St. Peter's, I will miss the comradery between all the crews and the all the great people I met over the years.

My advice for younger rowers or people who are keen to get involved in rowing is to not give up even when it feels like you can’t improve any more. “It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop”.

Jade Houston is a St. Peter’s student in Year 12 that is a competitive swimmer at a national level. Jade has earned medals at National events and was the Intermediate Girls Champion at this year's annual school swimming sports. Her teammates would describe her to be “bubbly” and “kind”, and a hard worker. Swimming is a passion for Jade and she wishes to qualify for a New Zealand team in the near future.

My favourite event is the 100m backstroke, but I enjoy racing all four strokes in sprint distances.

I started swimming at the age of 10 but I took the sport more seriously once I came to St. Peter’s. My highest and most favourite achievement while swimming at St. Peter’s so far is winning the National Short Course Open 4x100m freestyle relay. This was especially cool for me and my teammates as we were competing against open aged teams and my team and I were all aged 15, meaning the competition was much older and experienced than us.

Swimming has taught me so many life lessons that I am so grateful for; hard work is the main life lesson/skill to achieve your goals, and that if you set your mind to something you can do it. Because of swimming I can now apply this to my everyday life, especially with school.

Having all the National sporting events cancelled was definitely disappointing for many of us. However, it is important for me to stay motivated during COVID-19 and to stay fit and healthy as I want to come out the other side stronger than where I was before this crisis. Since the St. Peter’s pool has been shut, we can no longer do our swimming training. Instead I have been trying to keep fit in other ways such as running and doing workout programs sent to us by our coach. Hopefully the work I’m doing now will make it easier for myself when I return to the pool.

Alex describes himself as a motivated, hard work ethic triathlete that loves sport and enjoys sleeping.

His goal in the next five years is to make Junior Elite Worlds for Triathlon. To achieve this, he has to balance school and training most days. He training in the mornings and after school and then completes his academic commitments.

His hard work paid off when he won the New Zealand Under 16 Duathlon Championships.

If he not training or studying you can catch him watching his favourite movie Kings Men two or eating his favourite food; ice cream.

I got into volleyball in year 7 playing Kiwi Volley with my friends for our school team. Then in year 9 I began competitive volleyball for my school and started making rep teams for Bay of Plenty. I also played netball, volleyball, soccer and competitive surf life-saving

Volleyball is such a fun sport there is never a dull moment. The sport requires the whole team to be dedicated and work together. When rallies occur during games it is crazy fun and feels amazing to get a good hit or save a ball.

The most difficult skill involved in volleyball is having consistency throughout every skill in the game. Once you learn the skills it becomes natural but making every skill consistent and effective every time is what is difficult. This requires lots of practise and knowledge.

I have been influenced by the people I have play with from rep teams, and the girls in my school team. Their level of commitment and perseverance pushes me to be the best I can be. I am also influenced by students I have played with or against who are now going overseas to play volleyball at college, as that is where I eventually want to get.

Volleyball is a relatively new sport to St Peter’s and it would be great to raise the profile by having more students playing and developing their skills.

When I was young I watched my cousins play water polo for New Zealand and always wished I could play.

I started playing competitively in intermediate and have loved it ever since.

Water polo is such a unique sport and is always exciting. I love how each game is different in its own way and each player has their own technique and different skills within the game.

The competitiveness of the game is what makes it so exciting, I love how competitive and aggressive it is in the water but how friendly and social it is pool side.

Since stopping competitive swimming, water polo has been great to keep me fit and in the water.

I coached the junior St Peter’s team last year and enjoy giving back to the sport I love and look forward to carrying on water polo in the future.