The Quinn Trophy was held as usual in the tranquil and beautiful surrounds of Hawequas( SA Boy Scout Ranch in Wellington).

With a little struggle and sweat Trout and I managed to get a team together on the minimum requirements of 12 boys. This wasn't even a certainty on the day as we waited with baited breath for all 12 of the boys to arrive at the unearthly time of 7am. Reporting in at the competition was supposed to be 8:45am, and having timed our arrival just on the late side, we were all preparing ourselves

for beginning the competition with a negative score. However, we found ourselves asking a rather profound question, "Is this the right day or are we 5 hours early?"

So after briefly looking around it became evident that there were 2 other teams present and the time was roughly 8:50! As time made its way to 9am a few other teams arrived to make the total for this years Quinn Trophy a whopping 6 teams.

Now as the boys looked at their competition I could literally see the smile on their faces get bigger and BIGGER. I must admit, I knew that if this was all the Quinn Trophy had to offer Thirds, we had a hell of a shot!!

We also came in second in the senior event, and as I was a marshal on both the junior and senior events I can quite honestly say, that all I saw was the Third Pinelands Green T-Shirt a complete green wash!

I was watching the beginning of what seemed to be a slaughtering of Thirds in the volleyball when all of a sudden at the rather inopportune time of 9-2 down, they decided to inject all the enthusiasm and team work that they could find under their sleeves into the game and finished on top winning 15-10! The boys then went on to win all the subsequent games with serious efficiency and skill, including the final which proved to be anything but easy in the searing heat!

Another event on a rather hilarious note was that of the Tug Of War! Now looking at the competition our team really thought that this was an event that they could count on winning, however it was never going to be that easy. Right up to the final our raw power and brute force granted us victory, however the final proved itself to be something completely different! We found ourselves completely outweighed by a bunch of chubbies from the Strand! The final was the best of 5 tugs, and they won the first leaving our boys egos rather diminished and to be honest a little alarmed! We won the next tug after some serious exertion and now quite exhausted but on the level had to face another 3 tugs! The next 2 tugs went the same way as the first, them winning the 3rd and us the 4th, now even with one tug to come...

It was now really a battle of the minds as they were all exhausted, and with everyone cheering and watching, our stamina and sheer power won it for us! A truly exhilarating experience.

The rest of the competition went extremely well, with our cooking lead by the very able to cut his thumb off Ryan coming out tops after having to cook everything on a flat rock! The water event, which I did not get around to seeing in action, I believe was a great success. Our construction at the end though left a little to be desired, I think partially because the boys were tired, but nevertheless did not seem to hinder us much on our relentless pursuit of victory!

So after much effort and enthusiasm from the 12 boys taking part the Quinn trophy 2000 comes back to Third Pinelands and along side it The Cape Times Cross Country Shield!

Well done to everyone who took part and especially to Mr & Mrs Byett, Mr & Mrs Chadderton and Mr and Mrs Reid for their time and transport!