CHS teacher, Belinda Maher, organised the school's participation in the competition, which saw several teams travel to Moss Vale on Friday, November 29, from Bowral, Moss Vale, Mulwaree and Goulburn high schools.

It was the second year that the cup was held, and Maher said the kids took away a great deal from the experience.

"They thought it was great, it gave them an eye-opener to what level similar age kids in our region are at," she said.

"It opened their eyes to the difference in skill level across our zone and region."

CHS normally takes part in the Southern Region knockout competition, which is a good challenge but rarely allows the kids to play much soccer.

"Sometimes our junior kids don't get the opportunity to play as much through the southern regions competition, they get to play a round robin in this one," Maher explained.

"It just gives them that opportunity to play against lots of different schools in our zone, whereas the knockout comp only lets them play who they've drawn."

The added bonus, Maher said, was the opportunity to put together several teams of varying age groups.

"Being a small school too, when we pick teams we often pick from the older age group, whereas this allowed us to put together Year Seven and Eight teams," she said.

"It was only seven-a-side soccer, which gave them an opportunity to try something different."

Though Maher's expectations were not too high considering the school's relative inexperience, there were some pleasing performances put forward from the students.

"Our boys had a win against Moss Vale, who was the home team, which was exciting," she said.

"Our girls had two draws, so we weren't hugely successful but it was great to see the kids have an opportunity to play more sport and have more games in the round robin scenario."

With the positive reception the cup received from her students, Maher hopes CHS can take part in the competition next year.

"It's a great way to wind down the year," she said. "I hope it's something that we'll continue to go to, especially considering soccer is quite a popular sport here in Crookwell.

"We definitely had some kids playing who don't play soccer on the weekends [selected for the Highlands Cup], because they often have to pick one sport, so more opportunities were given."