School opens new multisport facility
A Stoke school’s ageing sports courts have been replaced with a $300,000 multipurpose turf, aimed at increasing participation among students and the local community.
Nayland College officially opened its all-weather turf on Friday, on the site of the former tennis and netball courts, built more than 50 years ago.
The courts were in serious need of repair, principal Daniel Wilson said. ‘‘Particularly in the last 18 months, we noticed a lot of injuries on the old courts, with very slippery ground and cracks appearing. In the middle of winter, it was just really dangerous to play out here.’’
Tennis, netball, hockey, basketball and futsal could be played on the new turf, the only one of its kind in Stoke, Wilson said.
The project was aimed at helping both students and the wider community engage in sport, he said.
‘‘We’d encourage people to come down at the weekend and use the facility. We don’t want it to sit here idle.
‘‘We think it’s really secure – there are cameras in the area, and the best security we can have as a school is actually people coming and using our facilities and keeping it safe for the whole community.’’
Year 12 student Joseph Meleisea, who plays senior basketball, said the new facility was a ‘‘really big improvement’’.
‘‘We’ve got two great basketball courts out here, with great hoops. And then these netball courts also help with our Tawa [College] exchange which we have every year, so we can potentially bring even more netball teams from Tawa to here.’’
Meleisea said he hoped the facility would increase sporting achievement, and it added to his sense of pride at being at Nayland.
‘‘Not every school gets this opportunity to have such a great outdoor facility, and it’s also good for the Stoke community.’’
The turf took eight weeks to install, and was paid for by funds raised by the school and the community. The New Zealand Community Trust also contributed $50,000 to the project.