A TRIO of Camden Haven High School (CHHS) students recently represented the North Coast in the NSW Combined High School State Touch Football Championships in Newcastle.

Picked for the representative side after impressing at regional trials were Noah Model, Cohen Model and Tayte Gibson.

The State Championship runs for three days, with regional representative sides from across the state participating in a number of competitive matches.

The event also serves as a platform for talented athletes to showcase their skills and vie for a spot on the NSW Open Boys Touch representative team.

The Open Boys North Coast side took out an impressive fifth place at the Championship.

Monday kicked off with a team meeting and training session, setting the tone for the week ahead.

Tuesday saw the team facing off in a series of intense games on a very wet and soggy playing surface.

The side’s first game against Western ended in a 3-3 draw, with visibility of the try line proving challenging due to mud.

Game two against Sydney South West resulted in a 9-9 draw, before a 6-4 loss to Sydney North.

On Wednesday, North Coast suffered two losses, going down 9-5 to Hunter and 7-6 to Sydney East.

They also recorded two wins, overpowering North West 8-2 and Riverina 8-3.

After mixed results the team rallied together to secure two victories on their third and final day of competition, beating Sydney West 3-6 and South Coast 3-8.

“The experience of playing together and supporting each other through the competition has been great,” Noah Model told News Of The Area.

In their final year of school, this was the boys’ final opportunity to participate in the competition.

“Our playing connection goes back to our time at primary school and it was a really special way to end our time playing school touch [football] together,” Noah said.

“Our team thrived under our coach Josh Nagle,” Model told NOTA.

“He knew how to connect with the team and how to make individual players thrive.

“Throughout both our wins and defeats, our team bond only strengthened, creating great memories and a sense of accomplishment.”

By Kim AMBROSE