Dropped Get2Go finalists get to go after all
GET2GOTEAM
After a change of heart by organisers, eight Golden Bay students have been belatedly invited to the national finals of the Get2Go Challenge on Great Barrier Island.
Get2Go is a mixed teams event for students in years nine and ten. It is supported by Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) and organised by the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre (OPC). The regional event involved rock-climbing, mountain-biking, orienteering and kayaking, and the national final will be more demanding still. Get2Go is intended to help "develop physical and mental skills including communication, problem-solving, planning, endurance, decision-making, leadership and teamwork."
The Golden Bay team must have displayed all of those qualities because they were convincing winners of their regional event on 5 September. Things did not go smoothly after their victory.
"Before we went to the regional event, we were told that all 13 regional winners would be invited to the national final on Great Barrier Island in December," said Stuart Grace, Golden Bay High School head of physical education. "But when we got there we were told that there wasn't room for all 13, so there would be a draw involving only the South Island winners and one of them would not be invited to the finals. Our team performed really well and won. They were excited about the national finals but about a week later I got an email saying that Golden Bay High School was the unlucky regional winner that wasn't going to be invited. I was really disappointed for these kids. They deserved to go as much as any other regional winning team. Golden Bay students don't get to go to many national finals.
"When I complained about the process I was told that we were the first emergency, getting a chance to compete if another school pulled out. That was unfair and very unhelpful. Then The GB Weekly started asking SPARC some questions and this week we heard that we've got an invitation to the finals. We're thrilled, even though we've been robbed of about three weeks' training and fundraising time."
Nathanael Sage is one of the team members. He is particularly keen to get to the national finals on Great Barrier Island because he and his family lived there before they came to Golden Bay.
Nathanael's mother, Kathy, got in touch with the OPC to challenge their decision to exclude one regional winner. She thought it was unjust. "Right at the start, all the parents were sent a SPARC letter saying that if our kids won over the Hill they'd be invited to the finals," said Kathy. "I couldn't believe it when Nathanael came home and said that things had changed. The organisers should have got their numbers right and made sure they had room for all 13 regional winners at the finals. I wasn't satisfied with the way the OPC decided to change the rules, especially the way the draw was conducted. If one team was going to have to miss out, all 13 winners' names should have gone into the hat."
SPARC officials were surprised to hear from The GB Weekly that one regional winner had not been invited to the finals.
"As far as we were concerned there were 13 regional competitions and they would produce 13 finalists at Great Barrier in December," said John Tulloch, communications manager for SPARC. "That's what we budgeted for."
On Tuesday the team was invited to the finals.
Neil Wilson
