Blogs • Josh Pemberton (Blog Scholar 2009)

This weekend we were visited by a large number of students from College House, a hall of residence at Canterbury University in Christchurch. Like Selwyn, CH is a traditional hall with a long history, and the rivalry and friendship between the two colleges goes back many years. On Saturday we competed for the "Warden's Cup", a prize for the overall winner of contests in soccer, rugby, netball, squash, tennis and basketball. I won't go into detail with the results as CH came out on top overall. Yet it was a fun day and I enjoyed the chance to play in the boy's soccer. Most students including myself fall out of playing organised sport when they go to uni, and having the chance to be coached for a few weeks by ex-Selwnyites and play for the College was pretty awesome.

In addition to the sports events there was also performances of the haka and waiata of both colleges, and a 'hop' or party at the Captain Cook Tavern on Saturday night. As far as I recall a great time was had by all. There is a real link between the halls - most Selwynites have school friends in CH, and in my case there is a strong family connection - three of my cousins have lived at CH in the last ten years, and my dad went there in the 1960s. Our billets left us this morning for a long bus trip home to Christchurch, after a great weekend. In my opinion the sports games were a great excuse for a full-on but fun weekend, which served to further strengthen the bond and friendship between New Zealand's two finest halls of residence.