Welcome to this edition of our InTouch Newsletter

Our feature picture shows our Club Chairman, Viv de Beus, with our new Rugby Development Manager, Steph Te Ohaere-Fox, being given the keys to the CFC ute, on the first day in her role this Monday. As many of you will know, the club truck was kindly donated by Garry Donnithorne and his team at VFL Finance and Lease last year. Garry is one of our platinum sponsors is a great supporter of the club. We know the VFL team are behind Steph as she takes on this new role and Steph is very grateful for the opportunity to be able to drive the truck around town, as she uses it every day to promote our great club!

 

 

 

We are all pleased and excited to have Steph on board and we’ll leave it to Steph to say a few words to introduce herself!

Kia ora e te whānau, 

For those of you who don’t know me I am Steph Te Ohaere-Fox and I have recently taken on the role of Rugby Development Manager.  

I have been a part of the Christchurch whānau since 2004 proudly playing nearly 200 games for the club. I am very proud to have my tamariki coming through our juniors now with a club I owe so much of my rugby career to. Having represented Canterbury, Matatū, Black Ferns and the Barbarians rugby club I now have t he opportunity to give back to my supportive club. 

I can’t wait to take this club into the future alongside an already awesome team that are working for the better of the Christchurch Football Club. 

Please don’t be afraid to come and catch up with me or contact me for all things rugby from here on out and I hope to see everyone around the club at some stage. I can be reached via the rugby@christchurchpark.co.nz email address

Ngā mihi 

Steph 

UPCOMING EVENTS & BAR OPENING TIMES THIS WEEK

This week we aren’t running are Nights Under Lights on Friday, as our Nomads team are holding their end of season event at the club.

We do however have nine junior games being played at the park on Saturday morning, in addition to hosting our U11 and U13 girls for a celebration day at the club. Both our girls teams will be playing at 11:15am, and then will take part in a training session being run by Steph and a few of the girls from our CFC and FPC team. We then have a coach departing in the afternoon, to take 60 club members to the FPC and Black Ferns game at Orangetheory Stadium - an awesome opportunity for our families to get together and enjoy a great day of rugby.

FREE COFFEE SHOUT - Sat 20th 10:30-12:30

We are lucky enough to have The Hits Radio station on site, providing free coffee to our family and supporters from 10:30-12:30 tomorrow morning, before we launch into hosting two representative matches as the Canterbury Waitaha Colts take on Ellesmere Cots at 1pm, followed by the Canterbury Waitaha Seniors taking on Ellesmere Seniors at 2:45pm.

FROM THE SIDELINE

This week, we had hoped to be able to feature a match report and season update from both the Nomads and the Choppers, after both teams played in their respective finals on Saturday 6^th August. However, initially the Nomads were busy recovering from post-match activities. Now they are busy preparing for their end of season function being held at the clubrooms tonight and they haven’t quite managed to get their final match report sent through.

Suffice to say, this team have handled the 2022 season above and beyond all reasonable expectations, playing in a grade against opposition players who generally tended to be around 10 years younger than them. To get through to the final, then miss out on the win by such a narrow margin, reflects the team spirit, camaraderie, and talent this team has. Since the start of the season, the team has been a great supporter of the club and we love to see the dads in the team getting involved and coaching and supporting their kids on a Saturday morning, often before pulling on their own boots later in the afternoon! On behalf of the club, we want to acknowledge and thank the team for an outstanding season, and we hope you have fun wrapping up your end of season celebrations tonight!

Our Div 3 Choppers team proudly represented our club in the closing stages of the season, playing their Bowl Final on Saturday 6^th August. We congratulate the Choppers on an outstanding season, that ensured the players and families had fun throughout, both on and off the field. Below is a summary from Jed Cowburn – thanks Jed for your contribution!

Choppers Season Report and Match Final Summary

Ah, finals footy! What an honour and privilege to represent CFC in the closing stages of the season. It was also fitting that Linwood were our opposition for the Bowl Final.

At the start of the season, it is always a bit nervy as we count the numbers and make sure we have enough players to get us through the season. There have been a few years when we’ve taken the field with 12 or 13 men. Not a position you want to be in. But the early signs were very encouraging, and it set the scene for the season ahead. What was most surprising is that everyone showed up for week 2!

We set ourselves a target for the season and that was to win a game. Sounds ridiculous but after the last few years of transition, low numbers and long-term injuries it made sense to the team. That first victory was the sweetest moment ever. We were playing Linwood on their number 1. After they humiliated us on our number 1 last season each and every one of the team, new and old, was motivated to right the wrongs of that day. We ran out 31-17 winners on that day and we achieved our goal early in the season. We built from there and went from strength to strength. Sticking to a simple but effective game plan we started improving on the execution of the game plan and solidify our trust in each other. The team bond was developing into something truly special. We all sensed it.

The rest of the round robin played out and while we didn’t win every game, we made sure that the team we were playing would remember us and that we do not drop our heads or pull out of a tackle. We already have some key milestones for next season.

And so, the knockout stages of the competition arrived and we were drawn against Sydenham, who have dominated this league for a good number of years. Admittedly they have undergone a few changes in recent years, but the backbone of the team is still there. We have been on the back of countless hidings from Sydenham in the last few years, I think we had a 90-0 at one point, then 85-0 and perhaps 60 odd – 0. Not great reading and we wanted redemption. We had also played Sydenham in the round robin under the lights at CFC, a game that we should have won in the end, but we had a myriad of creative decisions go against us on the night.

Linwood had a bye straight to the Bowl Final and they came down to cheer on the Choppers at Sydenham Park. It was a very even game and the last five minutes seemed to last two hours. We ran out winners in the end 29-26. We spent at least 10 minutes defending our try line at one point in the second half. It was an awesome team effort and true evidence that we have made some major improvements as a team.

Bring on the final. The team chat was blowing up all week with messages of encouragement and how the final is going to play out. To be fair there was a lot of repetition, but we’re allowed to be excited, right? I mean playing for silverware is a big deal, no matter the division. Winning is a bigger deal. On the day I think everyone turned up about 3 hours early, booted up and ready to go. There were some nerves which is completely normal but there was a very high level of focus in the changing sheds. We went through our warmup routine and everyone was feeling good, or at least they were strapped up so as not to fall apart on the field. It was the first game for some time that we were able to field our strongest team too; having had a couple of injuries through the season.

Things were looking good; Mikey won the toss and we were receiving the ball first up. We did start the game with an absolute hiss and a roar and applied some good pressure on Linwood, but we didn’t convert any of our chances. Linwood was very quick to the breakdown and in the initial exchanges they were dominating there. After a number of territorial and possession exchanges Linwood won their first penalty within range, slotted it and went up 3-0. Around the 35^th minute they slotted their second penalty to make it 6-0.

We gathered under the posts and listened to the wise words of our El Capitano (Mikey); I can’t repeat everything he said otherwise I won’t get this published! But the key message was that he wanted a try before half time. Easy. From the kick off we won possession ran it up the field. Completed about 10-12 phases and dotted down in the corner. Jager, the little beauty, slotted the conversion and we went in 7-6 at half time.

The team talk at half time was easy; we knew what was happening and how to address it. One thing is for sure we were going to be hitting those rucks with malice come the second half.

It was a tightly fought contest in the second half but as we started turning the screw we were winning ball from knock ons in the tackle or just handling errors as the pressure started to mount on Linwood. We upped the intensity, started running more pick and goes and always had at least two support runners. There was no chance we were losing this one. At one point we went down to 14 men. Can’t remember what the card was for but at the end of the day it made little to no difference (not saying we didn’t miss you out there Hulk).

At the end of the day, we managed to put on 22 unanswered points in the second half, in the pouring rain and came away with a 29-6 victory to lift the Bowl and gain a plaque for CFC to display in the clubrooms!

Linwood were very complimentary after the game, despite losing, in their speech on the field they believed that the Choppers had really stepped it up this season and were deserved winners. It was a great battle, but what I love about rugby is that the battle is on the field, and on the field only. As it should be.

Personally, this has been my most enjoyable season with the club and team; perhaps results have something to do with that; but I believe the cohesion of the team is what has made a massive difference.

On behalf of the Choppers I would like to say a massive thank you to CFC for the season. A special mention to Hunter, Bones, Nic, Jimmy and Sammy for representing the Choppers in the kitchen. I’d also like to say thank you to Hitti for the use of Tranny, Goat, Aids, Spud & Thomo for putting up with us for the season. Medic Mark/Dr Feelgood for keeping the lads looking strapping, Forest (Tyrone) and Wing Nut for keeping us hydrated and last but certainly not least, Spitty. He has tirelessly organised everything for the lads this season, from match beers, bananas, night games and ensuring we have a bar on those night games. In fact, I believe he even organised post match/season drinks after the final day. What a guy.

It has been a pleasure,

WHO ARE WE…

Jed Cowburn

CFC Choppers

2022 PRIZEGIVING

After a year off due to Covid, it was fantastic netball and rugby could back together last Saturday for the annual dinner and prizegiving.

Although clashing with representative commitments including the FPC & NPC matches over 140 came together to acknowledge the efforts of individuals and teams for the 2022 season.

A full list of award winner is below with main honours as follows:

Rugby:

Netball:

All 2022 Rugby awards here.

Rugby And Netball congratulates all our winners and thank you for support over the 2022 season.

Junior rugby and netball still have a few weeks to go. Their prizegiving will be held soon.

JUNIOR CORNER

Well, we did it again – we are officially the Fastest Club, after taking to the field at half time against 27 other local clubs, during the Miles Toyota Club Day during the NPC game at Orangetheory Stadium. Our club is always keen to step up and support these events and this year, due to some restrictions on the number of runners for each club, we had a team of four CFC Juniors up for the challenge of winning the title we have won two times before.

All teams consisted of 2 x U13 players and 2 x U8 players and this year we were proudly represented by:

Eseta Qalivutu – U13 Girls

Ruan Tahi – U13 Toa

Charlie Donkers – U8 White Lions

Ari Marino – U8 Blue Sharks

The team took to the field, supported by Tina Mahony and Nathan Tahi, and right from the start, it was clear, we were in with a solid chance, which we capitalised on as every runner handed over the flag to their teammate. Ably cheered on by the hundreds of CFC members wearing their club colours in the crowd, the team comfortably took the win.

We were also lucky enough to have a team of 10 children take part in the club parade and four lucky players got to run onto the field with our CFC NPC players at the start of the game. Our U11 Girls also made the most of the club day double header, running onto the field with our FPC players before watching them play.

A truly amazing experience for all of the families that signed up to be part of the club day celebrations and a massive thank you to the CRFU and Miles Toyota Club Day team for making this experience possible!

This week, we have a group of 60 junior club members heading off to see the FPC and Black Ferns game later in the afternoon after their morning games.

Fingers crossed that the weather is kind, and all games go ahead without too much rain this week. Our draw for the week is as per below.

Junior Draw

CFC JUNIOR PRIZEGIVING

Schedule will come out shortly, but we are locked into Sunday 11^th September for our U6-U12 Grade and Saturday 24^th September for our U13 teams.

Your coaches now have all the information to get individualised awards completed for all registered players and all certificates and medals will be awarded in front of your peers during your scheduled prizegiving…..more info to follow!

SPONSOR & SUPPORTERS CORNER

This week we want to place a shout out to the NZ Rugby & Bunnings Rugby Assist team, after finding out earlier this week, that we are the recipient of a $30,000 worth of Bunnings products and related items to enable us to complete a renovation of our changing sheds 3 & 4. Over three quarters of all eligible clubs applied to be in to win this prize and we were one of 10 lucky clubs throughout NZ to have their applications accepted.

We are super excited to be working with Bunnings Shirley to get our renovations underway and we look forward to keeping you up to date with our progress that will see us end up with the flashiest female and teenage friendly changing rooms around! How lucky are we!

More information about the Bunnings Assist programme and the recipients please click here

CFC Apparel

For anyone needing new shorts and socks, please go online to order via the CFC Gear Store: Christchurch FC Sports gear Store | Impakt

Article added: Friday 19 August 2022