Fun camp inspires Narrogin students
A group of Narrogin Senior High School athletes recently returned from an international cross-cultural sporting event in Perth and have been inspired by their experience.
Year 10 students Sophie Potts and Georgia Dyson were the first regional students in the State to sign up for the Friendship Games - the brainchild of former Perth Wildcats player Andrew Vlahov which aims to foster links between WA and Asia.
The event involved about 1500 students from across WA joined by those from China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore flocking to Perth from January 22 to 31 to compete in basketball, track, swimming, soccer, badminton, volleyball, table tennis, kung fu and Australian Rules football, as well as traditional indigenous games and wheelchair basketball.
Joining Sophie and Georgia at the games were Year 9 students Darryl Anderson and Samuel Licence, Year 11 student Jayde Schmidt and Year 12 head boy Robert Hallam and head girl Jaqueline Ozanne.
The NSHS contingent described the 10-day camp as "awesome".
"It was a good opportunity to meet students from around Australia and overseas," Sophie said. "We did lots of different sports and I learnt a lot from the Australian and Chinese swimmers."
The Narrogin representatives also attended a Wildcats basketball game, Perth Glory soccer match and the Aquatic Super Series.
"It was full-on every day," Jaqueline said. "It was definitely a good learning experience and builds up your confidence."
Robert described the games as "inspirational" and was considering returning as a volunteer.
Principal Steve Quartermaine said sending students to the Friendship Games was a "great opportunity" for the school.
"It is a fantastic concept for students across Australia and Asia to come together and become more culturally aware," he said.
Physical education teacher Paul Dyson, who was a driving force behind getting students to the Games, said he hoped funds could be raised to send students to next year's event in Shanghai.
It was full-on every day. It was definitely a good learning experience and builds up your confidence. Jaqueline Ozanne
