The netball teams of Laerskool Excelsior in North End are fired up to shoot for their goals in the upcoming season on a newly-resurfaced competitive court, sponsored by their neighbour, Pier 14 Shopping Centre.
Netball is the most popular sport at the school, with a full slate of teams from u/9 to u/13, but the school’s dilapidated court was making it difficult to host home games as visiting teams were reluctant to play on the rough and uneven surface.
The school’s principal, Dan Carstens, said the teams have previously done well against the competition in their zone, but not being able to play home games meant that parents who lacked transport weren’t able to support the enthusiastic players in their matches.
Pier 14 Shopping Centre manager, Melanie Harvey, said the centre was glad to be able to support the school, as part of their social development commitment to the area in which the centre is located.
“As much as Pier 14 is an urban shopping centre on a busy main street, we are also a suburban centre and meeting place, serving suburbs like North End and Mount Croix, and so it is important to us to give back to our neighbours who support us too,” she said.
Harvey said the contractor, Grand Slam Surfacing, had also supported the project that has given the school a competitive netball court for practices and matches.
“The learners and the coaches are really excited to start practising and playing matches when school sport starts up again in the second term.
“With the lack of team sport and other extramural activities, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we have seen a decline in learners’ willingness to get involved. We aim to educate the whole child, and team sport is an important part of a well-rounded education, imparting life skills as well as healthy exercise, so we are very grateful to have a facility now that the learners can be proud of,” Carstens said.
