Two in a row for cadet unit

DETERMINED: Letting their hair down, the Mangawhai Cadet Unit is, at back, Sam Bridge, Tahlia Howard (team leader), Maxim Usmar; middle, Zach Robertson, Chris Foley, Simone Cameron; and front Sean Thexton, Talbot Kupa, Caprice Howard, Renee Johnson.

Just weeks after winning first place in the Northern Area Skills Competition in Auckland against units from Opotiki to Kerikeri, Mangawhai Cadet unit has again won the national skills title.

Mangawhai was up against City of Christchurch and Palmerston North Cadet Units during the national competition, held at the Tamaki Training Centre over November 2-4.

‘Skills’, short for Skill-at-Arms, is an annual skills-based competition of the New Zealand Cadet Forces between all the Cadet Corps units in New Zealand. Regional competitions are run in the three areas, Northern, Central and Southern with the winners from each area returning in November to compete for the national title.

"When you are determined to succeed at the competition you are not just determined for yourself but for the achievement of your team-mates as well, and then with that hard work comes well deserved success," says group leader Cadet Warrant Officer Class Two (CDTWO2), Tahlia Howard.

The national competition has been reduced from three to one-and-a-half days though the number of competititive ‘stands’ is still the same, so even more mentally and physically taxing. 

The team achieved an impressive overall win by achieving first place in 10 stands and second in the remaining two stands. 

Nearly four months of training has formed bonds of friendship that will last a lifetime, with teamwork a major factor in their success.

“I am incredibly proud of them, they have worked so hard and they inspire everyone around them, which is no easy feat for those so young,” says unit commander Sandra Grayson.

The Mangawhai Cadet Unit invites the community celebrate their success and the official opening of their new building next to the RSA in Settlement Road at 2pm on Saturday November 24.