Grant gets students to tournament week
New Zealand Community Trust awards high school $22,644
Stratford High School students will play in the New Zealand Secondary Schools tournament week thanks to a grant by New Zealand Community Trust.
The trust has awarded the school $22,644 to cover the cost of travel and accommodation during tournament week.
For several years the school has attended tournament week, with students travelling to play netball, basketball, hockey, swimming, and football teams throughout New Zealand.
Stratford High School sports co-ordinator Philippa Smith says the funding support will be of great assistance to families and students during tournament week.
“By attending these tournaments the students experience a great deal of pride, both in our school and in themselves. This grant will increase the quality of sport not only because our students will train harder and have something to look forward to, but also be able to compete at a higher level.”
She says the school applied for the funding to make it more viable for students to attend their chosen tournaments.
“By receiving this funding we are able to keep costs down for our families and therefore remove one of the biggest barriers, especially for families with more than one child participating.”
Because the school is relatively small, some students play several sports, Philippa says.
“Otherwise, we would not be able to field teams across the board. This requires a huge time commitment and a lot of work to manage sports, schoolwork, and sometimes part-time jobs. Tournament week is what we work toward for the entire season.”
She says attending tournaments raises the school’s profile.
“It also helps attract students to our school. We compete well with the bigger schools and tournament week is something the students look forward to all year, especially this year, given the disruptions we have all experienced with Covid-19.”