Burnside High School hosted the first ever Canterbury wide Disability Sports Extravaganza on Sunday 14th of March.

This event was a chance for students from Canterbury, as far as Timaru, who have a form of physical impairment to try out new sports in a safe and supportive space, with their peers and range of experts from Sport Canterbury, the Halberg Foundation and Parafed.
29 competitors aged between 5 and 21, and some of their whanau had a go at 6 different disciplines over the course of the day. Students tried Boccia, similar to petanque, Cricket, Badminton, Netball, Football and Bowls. The athletes thrived in an environment where they had a chance to be themselves, and experience success in sports with slight modifications to assist their physical differences.
The calibre and energy of the athletes were high. In football for example, their skills were impressive. Ex-student and football rep Ellena Firth participated in this event encouraging young athletes to try a new skill out. This event was a huge success for the community, and it is hoped that this inaugural event will be the start of an annual tradition, where even more students from across the South Island can gather to show their sporting prowess, have fun competition with physical activity, and connect with friends.
A huge thank you to Anna Weatherall from Burnside High School for facilitating this event, in conjunction with Mitchell Rhodes from the Halberg trust and Parafed Canterbury. A huge thankyou goes out to the families for bringing such enthusiasm to this first sports extravaganza for our local para-athletes, lets hope to see them in the future as paralypians!