Donated sports equipment for schools
‘‘A lot of the gear is brand new.’’
Tokoroa’s sports stars of the future could have all the inspiration they need after bags of sports equipment were donated to two schools.
Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Te Hiringa and David Henry School were this year’s recipients of an annual initiative run by triathlon and endurance sports coaching business Fitness Locker.
The initiative sees two Waikato low decile schools selected each year to receive new and secondhand sports equipment donated by various businesses, clients and other sources.
This year’s donated Items include shoes, clothing, tennis rackets, bats, balls, and even a bike.
Auckland based coach Ben Eitelberg and Hamilton based coach Erin Furness travelled to Tokoroa to present the schools with the equipment. They described it as their ‘‘favourite time of year’’.
‘‘It is a privilege for us to be here because we are in the field of sport, we are both athletes and we coach athletes of all ages, and the aim is to reach out to more people so they have the opportunity to play sport,’’ Eitelberg said.
‘‘It is a challenge a lot of the time with sports and we recognise that sometimes people need a little bit of help to get to the point where they can partake and this allows that to happen.’’
‘‘You never know, there could be an Olympic star in the making here and ten years down the line you could read about them saying ‘there were these two randoms who came to our school’.you never know, it’s just about inspiring and giving opportunities.’’
He said the initiative was also a way of encouraging sustainability.
‘‘I take a very sustainable point of view in terms of how I do things and recycling is giving things a second chance to be used or someone a first chance to do something,’’ he said.
‘‘A lot of the gear is brand new as it’s come from event organisers who no longer need it so again it allows it to be used by someone else.’’
Eitelberg encouraged the students to make the most of the gear.
‘‘You now don’t have an an excuse not to go out there and achieve something new and something fun,’’ he said.
He thanked Swim T3, XTERRA Rotorua Festival, TR Group Truck and Trailer Rental New Zealand, Convex Innovative Packaging, Chirolink, Fastlane Fitness, Shoe Clinic Hamilton and Format Limited for their support.