Major Turnaround for University of Canterbury Rugby Football Club Senior Division 1 Team

“They’ve surpassed all my expectations this year. A plate win would be fantastic – especially against a strong team like Christchurch.”
– UCRFC Senior Division 1 Team Manager, Andy Hill

University of Canterbury Rugby Football Club Senior Division 1 Team is piling on the pressure, bouncing back from a lackluster period to battle with Christchurch Football Club in the plate final.

The revived squad has fought its way to the top of their table, beating Christchurch Football Club two weeks ago after seven gloomy years of losses to the team.

Senior Division 1 manager Andy Hill says the prospect of snatching the plate away from Christchurch on Saturday is sweet but that either way he us thrilled with his team’s improved performance, which has seen it end on top in five out of the last six games after a winless start to the season.

“They’ve surpassed all my expectations this year. A plate win would be fantastic – especially against a strong team like Christchurch,” Hill says.

The turnaround coincides with the introduction of a team performance agreement mediated by CAYAD (Community Action – Youth and Drugs) Otautahi. Hill says the string of wins is no coincidence, though.

The process has strengthened the team, inspiring players to change negative behaviours like excessive alcohol consumption, he says.

Alcohol reduces the body’s ability to convert food to energy. It also causes carbohydrate/blood sugar levels to drop. Add these effects to the inevitable dehydration and build-up of lactic acids that happen when you drink alcohol, and performance dives while the chance of damaging on-field physiological reactions like muscle cramps soars.

“Before we introduced the team performance agreement the guys used to be down at the clubrooms every Saturday night drinking beer. Now I struggle to get them there,” Hill says.

“And behaviour has changed on the field as well. There’s a lot more discipline within the team and the guys know they can trust each other just that little bit more.”

"Like a ripple in the community"

Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton congratulates CAYAD Otautahi
logo competition winner, Hannah Barnes.

“Hannah’s visual concept represents precisely how CAYAD works – ideas starting in communities which with support and community participation can grow into real change and have a positive impact on the issue of youth and drugs.”

14-year-old Middleton Grange schoolgirl Hannah Barnes has won a graphic art competition to produce a logo for community action project CAYAD Otautahi.

CAYAD Otautahi is part of a Ministry of Health funded initiative that works to reduce drug-related harm to young people and their communities through community action initiatives.

One of 27 CAYAD sites around the country, CAYAD Otautahi supports Christchurch community groups that are trying to address issues around youth and drugs.

The competition had an excellent response of high quality submissions and was open to all young people in Christchurch under the age of 25, says CAYAD Otautahi coordinator Leanne McTear.

“They obviously put a lot of thought into their entries but Hannah’s visual concept represents precisely how CAYAD works. To use her words: like a ripple in the community,”’ says McTear.

“That’s just how we work – nurturing and supporting ideas that come from within communities to grow participation and help focus it into real change that has a positive impact on the issue of youth and drugs,” McTear says.

Chair of the Ministerial Committee overseeing the National Drug Policy and Associate Health Minister Jim Anderton says CAYAD programmes are the best way for drug issues to be identified and dealt with at the local level.

“CAYADs make a very important contribution to helping positive social change in our communities,” says Anderton. “CAYADs focus on strengthening communities. Drugs will not flourish in active communities where everyone has a stake.”

Barnes won an ipod nano donated by Christchurch City Council. Runner-up Amanda Penman received $100 in vouchers.

Vehicle leasing specialists VFL Finance donated the cost of having the logo sign written onto the CAYAD car to help increase the project’s visibility in the community.

VFL Finance spokesman Jason Donnithorne says the company recognises the value of community action initiatives and is eager to support CAYAD get off the ground and on to the road.

"The CAYAD car is a moving billboard that will be effective in raising awareness and reinforcing the CAYAD Otautahi objectives as the team moves around the city,” Donnithorne says.