Winning Winter Code Presentations
It was our pleasure to have Mr. Jackson Hemopo at assembly this morning to present certificates and trophies to the 21 captains of team's who won their respective competitions this year.
Mr. Hemopo attended Boys’ High from 2007-2011 and proved himself an excellent all-rounder throughout his time here. He attained solid academic results, but it was in the sporting arena that he performed with particular distinction.
As a Year 12 pupil Mr. Hemopo achieved the rare feat of representing three first teams: Premier A Basketball, for whom he had made his debut in Year 10, the 1st XV Rugby team and the Senior A Volleyball team. He also represented the school at the MISSA Athletics Championships; he was Senior High Jump champion in 2010 and runner-up in the Senior Discus.
In his final year, Mr. Hemopo was a School Prefect, a Mentor to a junior class, he was Deputy Club Captain of Kia Ora, who have of course enjoyed much success in the Shand Shield in recent years. He focused on Rugby, where he was one of six Boys’ High players to make the Hurricanes Schools team, although he was also Senior Discus champion and runner-up in the High Jump.
Upon leaving Boys’ High, Mr. Hemopo ventured south to Dunedin and in 2014 he was selected for the Otago NPC team, for whom he would play two seasons before returning to play for the Turbos in 2016.
He was selected for the Highlanders during the 2015 Super Rugby season, making his debut against the Blues. His eye-catching performance in the Highlanders’ victory against the touring British and Irish Lions, where he was noted as “one to watch for the future” , furthered his cause, and he was subsequently selected for the New Zealand Maori side that toured Canada and France at the end of last year.
In the series against France in June of this year, Mr. Hemopo was called into the All Blacks squad and made his debut in the third match of that series, in Dunedin, thus becoming Palmerston North Boys’ High School’s 15th All Black. He has just returned from the All Blacks’ trip to Argentina and South Africa where he played his second match for the All Blacks in their win over the Pumas in Buenos Aires.
It was our pleasure to have Mr. Hemopo with us today to make the presentations to our winning winter code team captains and we wish him all the best with his future endeavours.
