NZ Herald Weekly College Sport Column

Teen gets a big kick from taekwondo

As a youngster, Ethan Parker would never have dreamed that watching Jackie Chan movies would one day lead to trips to Argentina, Vietnam, Australia and Canada - all by the time he was 17.

Following his older sister Alisa into martial arts as an 8-year-old and with a fair degree of natural ability, Parker was quickly hooked on taekwondo and now, as a year 13 pupil at Alfriston College, he has stood out in his chosen sport, much admired by those around him.

He first competed internationally as a 12-year-old - in Australia for the Oceania Championships. Two years later he was in Canada, in Argentina at the end of last year and last month competed in the 2nd Asian Championships in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City.

Unfortunately, with his chosen version of the sport - ITF as opposed to WTF (the discipline using only legs) - he will not get the chance to step on to the Olympic stage.

"My passion is ITF where we use our hands and have other disciplines," said Parker. "We do more."
The sport is demanding. He trains five times a week, often with top coach Steve Pellow, but still finds time to give something back to his sport by coaching younger competitors.

While taekwondo now demands all his energies, he did find time in his earlier days at Alfriston College to play rugby.

"I played halfback - I used to be little," Parker joked. But even now, at 63kg, he is hardly a giant.
His weight has, however, brought him to the crossroads.

"I have been competing in the 58kg-63kg division but I am now contemplating moving up to the under-70kg division. I will have to make that call but the way I am feeling, I am likely to go up before the World Championships in March."

While he has already had a variety of medals hung around his neck - nationally and internationally and with team as well as individual success - his sights are set on next year's Worlds in Wellington.

"It won't be easy. But I am likely to be among the oldest and more experienced in my division. I believe I have a realistic chance of a medal, perhaps gold."
Popular among his peers and teachers, Parker said he will probably go to university next year but he will, no doubt, split his time between his studies and his sport.

BASKETBALL
WBHS were given one of their tougher games before edging away to beat KBHS 86-73.

There was only a point in it at halftime with WBHS ahead 43-42 and Kelston remained in touch until late in the third quarter.

Both teams exchanged runs of points, with both having to revert to a box-and-one to try to shut down the impact players.

FOOTBALL
In yet another arm-wrestle, long-time rivals MAGS and AGS played out a scoreless draw at MAGS in a game which looked destined for such a result a long way out.

Both teams had half chances but without seriously threatening to score the breakthrough goal.

On chances created, the visitors perhaps looked the most likely but some wayward finishing cost them any chance of snatching the points they wanted to seriously threaten MAGS at the top of the table.

On what they showed, both teams have some work to do if they are to be serious contenders at this month's Lotto Sports premier tournament in Napier.

Star striker Nathanial Hailemarian scored four goals in St Peter's 6-1 win against Kings to take his season's tally to 12.

St Peter's dominated the first half, scoring an impressive four goals with man of the match Hailemarian netting a first half hat-trick. Kings fought hard in the second half and were rewarded with a goal to striker Ryan Howlett. Other stand-out performers for St Peter's included Nick Finlay and Hendry Eli.

NETBALL
In premier action in the Auckland competition against Avondale, hotly favoured MAGS began tentatively on attack and their defenders took time to settle but once they found their rhythm their opponents found it hard to work their way through the court.

MAGS wing attack Dahlia Lematua and goal attack Eteta Tangimetua applied some good defensive work and created intercepts on the Avondale centre pass to build momentum.

With some excellent shooting from captain Tera-Maria Amani and patient work on attack, MAGS continued to increase their lead.

At halftime year-nine goal shoot Chiara Semple came off the bench and quickly settled, shooting 100 per cent for the rest of the game. It was a business-like performance from MAGS against a sometimes feisty Avondale team.

EGGS kept pace with MAGS at the top of section one with another of the hard-fought wins they have had over St Kentigern in recent years.

EGGS, 32-24 winners, were too good on this occasion with a standout performance from Tayler Matthews at goal keep. She stymied a number of St Kentigern attacks and was well-supported at the other end of the court by goal shoot Kaity Alexander.

There was a good midcourt tussle between Abby Barry (EGGS) and Kirsten Hurley with EGGS again coming out the winners as Barry linked well with Aleesha Coulter and Chonaire Huriwai.

Meanwhile, 85 teams will line up at the Auckland Netball Centre this morning for a hectic day's play in the popular Combined Points Tournament.

Teams from as far afield as Warkworth and Tauranga have entered the tournament which is contested in three grades - premier, year 10 and year nine. Baradene won the year 10 competition.

MAGS will play their first premier game against St Dominics.

Play starts at 9am with the last section games scheduled for noon.

RUGBY
The Mt Albert Grammar 1st XV ended the 1A championship as they started - with a bonus point win to complete their amazing record of claiming a bonus point in all 11 matches. And, they kept their best until last, beating De La Salle 71-10 in front of their home faithful.

De La Salle, national champions two years ago, had no answer for the all-powerful MAGS XV.

It was the third time they had scored 50 or more points this season and their biggest winning margin.

Faced by potentially four championship contenders in the opening four rounds - and with three of those matches played away - MAGS soon showed they would be the team to beat with bonus point wins over Kings, AGS, St Peters and KBHS.

All but AGS are now through to join MAGS in this week's semifinals.

St Peters have drawn the short straw in finishing fourth and facing the return trip to MAGS fully aware they were humbled 51-13 in round three but taking heart from last season's semifinal in which they held MAGS to 17-16 - also at MAGS.

Against De La Salle, and with the championship and a home semifinal, already in the bag, MAGS could have been excused for letting up. De La Salle wished they had.

Ahead 14-0 with tries to Michael Faleafa and Alex Hodgeman - with the mandatory Matt McGahan conversions - barely before the crowd had moved across from the soccer field, MAGS raced off into the distance, scoring almost a point a minute.

They led 38-3 at halftime running in six unanswered tries. They were just as relentless after the break, scoring another five tries including a third for Louis Devery.

The visitors did deservedly get something for their efforts when they charged a kick down and raced away to dot down.

KBHS warmed up for their home semifinal against Kings with a stunning 64-0 - 10 tries to nil win over Aorere College.

Needing a bonus point win to ensure home advantage for Saturday's semifinal, Kelston were quickly on the board when Tai Valeni scored. They added two more before halftime despite having a player in "the bin" for 10 minutes to lead 17-0 at the break.

That stout effort from Aorere told in the second half as KBHS ran in another seven tries with Junior Ngaluafe scoring four.

Kings won the "private school derby" against St Kentigern 17-14 in the inaugural match for the Don Craig Trophy.

Failing to make best use of the strong wind, Kings did not break the deadlock until the last 10 minutes of the first spell when Nick Randell and Fa'asiu Fuata'i scored tries which Simon Hickey converted to give the visitors their 14-0 halftime lead.

The home side closed the gap with a converted try with 15 minutes to play but a Hickey penalty stretched the lead to 17-7 before St Kentigern, on the final whistle, added a second converted try.

In a game which had no bearing on the championship, AGS snatched a late 20-19 home win over Tamaki in an open, entertaining affair.

Leading 19-13 with 10 minutes to play, Tamaki had their chances to seal a keenly sought-after victory but dropped balls over the line twice cost them dearly and AGS bounced back to score a converted try as the final whistle blew.

St Peters made certain of their semifinal spot with a comprehensive 39-15 win over Tangaroa.

St Peters played their best rugby in the opening stanza and jumped out to a 19-point lead after just 15 minutes by breaching the Tangaroa defence out wide. Wing Josh Cocker-Valu made numerous rampaging runs and ran in three of St Peters' seven tries in a player of the day performance.

NORTH HARBOUR: Orewa College, with home advantage, scored a hard-fought 24-15 victory over Massey in the match of the day.

After conceding two early penalties, converted by Jordan Jacobs, Orewa closed the gap when Torin Rensford scored an impressive try after some good team work.

The visitors hit back with a third penalty for a 9-5 lead. Andrew Fluker closed the gap with a penalty before Massey again got deep into Orewa territory from where they booted over another penalty for a 12-8 lead which was reduced to 12-11 before the break with yet another penalty.

With some fresh legs and a new-found urgency, Orewa scored early in the second half when Nathan Cargo dotted down. The conversion gave Orewa a handy 18-12 lead and they demonstrated their tight defensive organisation to hold out for the win.

In the other 1A games, Mahurangi beat Takapuna 19-12 to win their second game of the season and WBHS defended their line for the last 20 minutes to defeat a determined Rosmini side 14-9, to remain joint leader on the table with Orewa.

In 1B action, Glenfield beat Northcote 24-14 to remain at the top of the table, Rangitoto moved into second place with a convincing 27-0 win over Long Bay and improving Kaipara comfortably beat Birkenhead 25-10.

In the 1C games, Kristin thumped Hato Petera 40-5 to extend their tight grip on first place, and Hibiscus Coast rivals Whangaparaoa and Kingsway drew 17-17 to hold second and third place respectively.

RUGBY (GIRLS): Tamaki College created their own slice of history with their first rugby championship win 15-3 over AGGS in the final of the Auckland SS Championship at Coxes Bay.

A couple of weeks earlier Tamaki successfully defended their rugby league title with a 24-12 win over Manurewa HS in that final.

WEIGHTLIFTING
Josh Milne (Howick College) was the star performer at the Northern Regional competition, upstaging his rivals from the more traditional weightlifting schools Te Kauwhata College, AGS and Macleans.

Competing in the 77kg class, Milne, who weighed in at 72.1kg, registered 90kg in the snatch and 113kg in the clean and jerk before narrowly failing at 117kg with his third attempt. He finished 52kg ahead of silver medallist John Roberts (Macleans).

The championships attracted a large group of first-time lifters, particularly from One Tree Hill College and AGS who were using the competition as a stepping stone in preparing for the National SS Championships at the Millennium Institute on September 11.