MIRAMAR UNDER-13 NETBALL SIDE PARADES TROPHY ENGRAVED '2019' FOR THREE WEEKS BEFORE ANYONE NOTICES
Engraver in Napier blames a long Friday. Coach blames the clubroom lighting. Mums blame each other.
A Miramar Park under-13 netball team has spent nearly a month showing off a runner-up trophy engraved with the year 2019. None of the current squad were old enough to play in the grade that year.
The trophy was ordered from a Napier engraver after a second place at a Hawke's Bay tournament in October. It has since been photographed at three prizegivings and on the tray of assistant coach Deano Falepau's Hilux. Nobody clocked the date.
"I thought it looked a bit retro, ay," said team mum Cushla Brennan, who runs the snack roster and, allegedly, the entire club. "Bex from Customs Coffee said the font was 'very 2019'. I literally laughed in her face! Turns out she was reading it."
The engraver, reached at his workshop, said it had been a long Friday and he'd been doing a batch of 2019 memorial plaques for a bowling club that arvo. "If no one's pinged it in three weeks, is it really wrong?" He declined a refund but offered a discount "on the next one, if youse stuff up again."
Coach Marlon Tepania said the girls had voted to keep the trophy as-is. One parent, who asked not to be named because she's "already in it with the WhatsApp", said the real scandal was coming second. "Don't get me started on that umpire. Absolute tosser. Couldn't spot an obstruction if it fucking sat on her."
The trophy is still on display at the clubrooms, next to a 2017 plate for a tournament held in 2016.
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Reader Letters
Trev_Hornby
Ah, Miramar strikes again. Classic.
wayne1987
Good grief, who even cares about the date? At least the kids got a trophy. It’s what they play for, innit?
Garry (Halswell)
Back in my day, if you got a trophy, you’d just paint over the bloody thing if it was wrong. Kids these days just go soft.
MumOf3
Honestly, this is shameful. What’s worse, coming second or a forgotten mistake from years ago? These kids are learning to accept mediocrity.
KiwiRanter
Mate, that's not even what they said. The real issue is the umpire, not the trophy!
tired_in_riccarton
Doesn’t anyone double-check these things? It’s not hard! People have no pride in their work these days.
Becks_Miramar
Honestly, @KiwiRanter’s right, a trophy is a trophy, get over it!
NetballDadWelly
Keep it or melt it down as a lesson in history. Either way, it’s a reminder of the umpire’s shocking calls.
couchgremlin
Lol, trophies are overrated.
conspiracist_kiwi
The engraver probably just knew something we don't know. Maybe it's a reminder, eh? Conspiracy in plain sight – clever bugger!