Kia ora to our Alumni Community

It is always a pleasure to connect with our past students and share the ongoing evolution of Mount Maunganui College. 2025 has been another year of growth and success. Our current students continue to make us proud, achieving excellence in their academic pursuits and representing the school with pride in sports and the arts. We have spent the past two months celebrating their achievement through our many prize-givings and graduation, to think we have been doing this for 67 years is quite an awesome feeling.

If you haven’t visited the grounds recently, you might notice some changes. We are currently progressing with the 32 classroom build to ensure our learning environments remain world-class for the next generation. It has become quite a local feature generating significant interest locally and nationally. We are looking forward to moving in next year.

We love hearing where life has taken you since walking out our gates. To stay connected, view photos from the archives, and keep up to date with upcoming reunions, please make sure you are following our official Alumni social media pages:

Facebook: Click Here
Instagram: Click Here

Before signing off for the year, our awesome music students have released the sixth straight album. All music is original and recorded here at the college. This year saw the rebirth of cassette tapes to capture the essence of the album. All music is released across streaming platforms. Check them out on spotify here.

Ngā mihi,

Alastair Sinton
Principal

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HIGH ACHIEVERS

A special shoutout to the following students who are currently representing New Zealand:

Cole Hopoi and Josh Kelly who are playing for the New Zealand Under 17 Basketball team in Samoa.
Cooper Everett and Griffin Hunt who are playing for the New Zealand Under 20 Development water polo team in Australia.

New Zealand U18 7’s Selection
Congratulations to Asha James who has recently been selected in the New Zealand U18 Rugby 7’s team to compete in the Global Youth 7’s in Auckland from the 19th of December.

NISS Junior Volleyball Championships
Our junior volleyball teams had success at the recent North Island Championships with both the boys and girls making the final. Congratulations to our Mount Maunganui College Junior A Boys team who came home as champions from the 2025 North Island Champs and congratulations to our Mount Maunganui College Junior A Girls team who came home with silver. Special acknowledgement to Coebin Green, Niko Sowter, Henry Henderson, Kyla Wills, Lara Wright and Neve Walker for making the tournament teams.

NISS Junior Beach Volleyball Cup
Congratulations to Kyla Wills and Lara Wright as they have recently been crowned as the 2025 North Island Beach Volleyball Champions. Well done to our 7 pairs backing up a week of indoor games to play on the beach. Special acknowledgement to Will Ferris and Enzo Graham for making the semifinals, and Kyla Hislop and Jess Sutcliffe also making semifinals in their first ever time playing beach volleyball.

Cricket
The summer of cricket is well underway and congratulations to the following students who have been selected in representative teams.
Northern Districts Under 19
- Jess Benge
- Brittany Jenkins (2024 alumni)
Bay of Plenty Coastlands Under 16
- Gurshan Singh
Northern Maori Youth Rangatahi
- Charlie Olsen
- Mitch Hill
Bay of Plenty Under 16
- Zoe Hennah

Football
Seven Mount Maunganui College Girls bring home a national title. FC Tauranga Moana won the National U17 Football Tournament in Auckland recently. This is the top national tournament for this age group and is a significant accomplishment. The girls beat top clubs from all around New Zealand to get there, including Auckland United, Melville United and Eastern Suburbs in the final. Mount Maunganui College players from the FC Tauranga Moana U17 team were Oli McNeil, Mia Chiari, Belle Ririnui, Lane Ririnui, Amelia Cheyne, Bella McKeown and Bonnie Tilby.

Climbing
Mount Maunganui College climbers continue their success and New Zealand recognition. The following students have been selected in the following development squads.
Bouldering Under 15 Female
- Lucy Ranger
- Marley de Jong
Top rope / Lead Under 15 Female
- Marley de Jong
Bouldering Under 17 Female
- Mila Piatek
Bouldering Under 17 Male
- Rio Piatek

Rollerskating
Te Moana a Toi Rollerskating Club’s Amber Smith recently represented New Zealand at the Figure World Cup held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on September 28th. Competing in the Junior Ladies Figures event, Amber placed 17th in the world — an achievement reflecting years of dedication and hard work. Leading up to the competition, Amber trained 8–10 hours a week and self-funded her journey. She spent two weeks in Argentina, training with an international coach and embracing an unforgettable experience.

Obstacle Course Racing
Caitlyn Fortescue has recently returned home from Sweden after competing for New Zealand at the World Obstacle Course Racing Championships. Caitlyn competed in the 100m sprint and 3km individual events - she was also chosen to be in the mixed 100m team relay.
- 3km OCR Race: 20th Place
- 100m Individual Race: 21st Place
- 100m Mixed Relay: 10th Place
Caitlyn has reflected well with lots of learnings and is already looking at which events to enter in 2026, she is one to watch moving forward.

Surf Lifesaving
Isobella Davoren and Olivia Verryt have been selected in the 2025 SLSNZ Pool Rescue Squads. Isobella has been selected in the Senior Pool Rescue Squad and Olivia has been selected in the Youth Pool Rescue Squad. Both have had a standout year with surf lifesaving and will be looking to take New Zealand Pool Rescue to the next level.

SHANE ARNDELL

FINNLEY OLIVER

DR ALEX BARNES

DR JULIA KAYES

ABBEY YULE

HIGH ACHIEVERS

RETIREE SPOTLIGHT

FROM THE ARCHIVES