NORTH Coast won gold and bronze at the NSW Combined High Schools squash competition last week at Thornleigh Squash Club in Sydney.

Maddison Nagar struck gold to win the girls state title and after the singles events North Coast followed up, winning bronze in both the boys and girls team events.

All five of the boys bronze winning team plus Maddison Nagar train and are coached at the Coffs Harbour Squash Club, which has a strong reputation for producing state and national champions.

Col Hocking, a physical education school teacher at Nambucca High School, has been managing the North Coast squash team for ten years and was delighted with the outcome.

“To win two bronze medals in both the boys and girls team events shows the strength and depth of the group against the best students in the state,” he said.

“Madison Nagar from Coffs Harbour had a stellar tournament taking out gold in the individual girls under 15s event.

“What’s even more remarkable is that she is only twelve years old and competed against girls two years older than her.

“She has a very bright future in the sport.

“The camaraderie in the camp was excellent and this really helped us in the team events with all players cheering for their teammates and giving advice between games.

“These events provide valuable life experiences for the students and I’m really pleased they made the most of it and enjoyed being part of a team.”

The next event is the NSW School teams event and with three students from Coffs Harbour Jetty High School, coach Col Hocking sees huge potential.

“There are four players in the teams event and Jetty High School has three players from the bronze winning North Coast team so I think they will go deep into the draw.

“The key to winning this competition is having strength in depth, this competition is won by having a strong three and four player so Jetty High will be tough to beat,” said Hocking.

By David WIGLEY