GIANTS IN THE COMMUNITY MAKING STRIDES IN FEMALE GAME
Published on: 26th October 2011
Female inter-school touch rugby tournament a big success.
After weeks of intense training sessions 50 year 7 girls took part in an inter-school touch competition. The event, hosted on the 3G pitches at the Zone was overseen by the Giants in the Community team.
Steve Beaty from Giants in the Community said “It’s been fantastic to see so many girls play Touch Rugby. The girls have come on leaps and bounds in the training sessions and have surprised supporters and teachers with their speed, handling skills and technique.
“The tournament was hard fought and played in the best of spirit. The finals came to the wire after strong performances throughout, leaving the tournament open for anyone to win.
“A massive credit has to go to the Apprentice Students from the Education Department at The Zone as their organisational, planning and refereeing skills have been second-to -none. With thanks also to participating schools, All Saints, Park Lane, Salendine Nook, finalists Scissett and overall winners Kirkburton.
Pictured: players and teachers at the event and apprentices with Steve Beaty from Huddersfield Giants in the Community.
----------
HUDDERSFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOLS MAKE LINK WITH UGANDA
Formal links to Uganda made by partner schools Helme and Meltham.
Huddersfield Giants partner schools Helme and Meltham Moor have made formal links with Buyaka School and Bunangaka School in Mbale, Uganda. The links are supported by the British Council via their Global Schools Partnership programme.
Julie Dempster, Headteacher at Helme School and Carol McAndrew, teacher at Meltham Moor School, visited Uganda at the end of July 2011. They were accompanied by Clare Thomas, now Headteacher at Brockholes School, who had done much of the preparatory work at Helme School whilst working as Deputy Headteacher there. The purpose of the visit was for the UK partners to familiarise themselves with the partner schools and make the links leading to formal partnership working.
Octopus Sport generously donated t-shirts in the Huddersfield Giants colours and printed with the Huddersfield Giants & Zone logos. For the children who will wear them as school kit when they take part in inter-school sports competitions.
The schools commented that the experience was an ‘amazing’ one;
“We were warmly welcomed by the staff and children at both schools. Life is very different in the rural Ugandan schools. There is no electricity, no running water and no formal sanitation. The buildings range from mud to concrete block walls and all had mud floors. Education has just been made free to all children so some classes are huge with well over 100 children. The children are very proud of their uniforms and sit squashed on long benches with writing slopes attached. The teaching and learning is very different as children learn facts which they repeat back to the teacher. However, the children, like the children in the UK, were full of fun and thoroughly enjoyed the activities we did with them.
“We are very grateful to Huddersfield Giants, The Zone and Octopus Sports for their major donations of shirts. The staff and children in both Ugandan schools were very pleased with the gifts and the shirts will be used as school kit in both schools when they take part in inter-school sports competitions.”
Andrew Rostron, director of Octopus Sport Ltd said:
"We are very pleased to have been able to supply Huddersfield RFL's The Zone with shirts that Meltham and Helme Schools could take to the children at Buyuka & Bunangaka Schools in Uganda."
