By Kelly Hamer | Posted: Monday September 1, 2025
TBHS First XI Hockey and 2nd XI Hockey
Timaru Boys’ High School First XI has won New Zealand’s top secondary school hockey tournament for a second time.
The tournament saw 32 qualifying teams go head-to-head, with the top 16 playing for the Rankin Cup and the bottom 16 playing for the India Shield.
TBHS won the Rankin Cup final against New Plymouth Boys’ High School 3-1 on Saturday afternoon in Auckland.
The school’s team made history by bringing home the Rankin Cup for the first time in 2023. It placed second in 2024, after losing to Tauranga Boys’ College.
Coach Simon Cooper said that loss had left the team feeling like the job was not finished and made them want to win more this year.
The Rankin Cup win came hot on the heels of a win at the Canterbury Hockey Secondary Schools Premier Competition, for the second year in a row, about a week earlier.
The journey to the finals was not an easy one, with the team going up against increasingly difficult teams from Nelson, Cambridge, Wellington, Hamilton and St Andrew’s College of Christchurch.
“The match against Hamilton was a particularly tough one, and it gave the boys an idea of how tough the games were going to be moving forward.
“In the quarter finals, we were losing 3-1 to St Andrew’s and in the last 5 minutes we tied 3-3 ... we won during the shoot-out.
“It was a challenging ride to the finals, but it prepared them for the final match against New Plymouth.”
The determination, and the connection between the players, helped the team push through the challenges to win the Rankin Cup.
The TBHS Second XI placed second in the NZ Secondary Schools Second XI hockey competition, the Galletly Cup, for the second year in a row.
They progressed through to the final against Palmerston North Boys High School, by defeating Waitaki Boys High Dev, Christchurch Boys High School, John McGlashlan College and then Wellington College. The final was a well-structured and hard-fought game and Palmerston Boys High School came away with the win 2-1.
