An all girls' have a go day in Papatoetoe had some 350 children from 14 South Auckland primary schools asking for more last Friday.
The five hour expo at Kolmar Leisure Centre in Hunters Corner gave children in year four to year eight the opportunity to dabble in non traditional sports like boxfit, squash, weightlifting, golf, biking and basketball as well as netball, rugby, rugby league and hockey. It was organised and run by Counties Manukau Sport and its Find Your Field of Dreams team with expert help from elite athletes like Commonwealth Games bound weightlifter Bailey Rodgers (Papatoetoe Olympic Weightlifting Club), New Zealand kayaker Caitlin Ryan, White Sox Jennifer Feret-Brear and Auckland Hearts Maia Bouchier.
Counties Manukau Sport primary schools sports adviser and event coordinator Lizzie Dooley says the children were taken by the experience.
"Originally this event was just for schools in the Ōtara/Papatoetoe area but this year we opened it up to other school clusters and more than doubled the participants, from 167 last year to 350 this year," she says.
"The feedback on the day was overwhelmingly positive. Everyone appreciated the variety of sport, the inclusion of Life Education and a smoothie station."
Dooley says the day's purpose was to provide non-sporty girls from primary schools in South Auckland with an opportunity to try a variety of sports in a fun, safe and female empowered environment.
"We want to provide these girls with sporting opportunities but also encourage a holistic approach to health, making good choices and creating new friendships," she says.
"The support from Kolmar, Life Education Trust and iSport was a cherry on top of what was an outstanding day to be a part of."
Life Ed provided each girl with a lunchbox to take home while the iSport Foundation donated $10,000 worth of sports balls for each girl.