Beach Volley Ball Court and BBQ Area Opening

posted: Thu, July 02, 2020

Our Beach Volleyball Court and BBQ Area was officially opened on Wednesday, 1 July. PTA and Board Member, Celia Grant gave a lovely speech (parts of which are reproduced below) introducing the facility and thanking all those who contributed to the project then current Kaharoa student Hunter Weaver and Councillor Fisher Wang cut the ceremonial ribbon and declared the Community Recreational Resource OPEN. Thank you very much to all who came to celebrate with us, in particular those who represented our supporters, both financial and those who donated materials, their time and energy in helping with construction. A very big thank you to the PTA who managed the project - what a fantastic new facility for our school and community.

We greatly appreciate the Beach Volleyball team from Western Heights High School who managed to come despite all our date changes. Eugene Bogun kindly brought four Western Heights High School Volleyball players including a former Kaharoa student to inspire us all. Cole Gillespie, Kiwa Johnstone, Noah Wineti and Cole Walker have reached great heights in volleyball, representing their school, region, and some have represented New Zealand. Thank you very much to them all.

The project was first floated by the PTA two years ago, but last year, efforts were redoubled and they were encouraged by the Rotorua Lakes Council to apply for support from the Neighbourhood Matching Fund. Our simple beach volleyball court project grew into a Community Recreational Resource. We hope the facility will be used and enjoyed by a wide range of age groups from the school and the wider community, hence the chessboard/BBQ shelter and dual-purpose volleyball/petanque court. We envisage social volleyball, social petanque, chess and a venue for kids’ birthday parties as well as use as a competitive beach volleyball and petanque venue. We are grateful to the Rotorua Lakes Council and its Neighbourhood Matching Fund.

Volleyball NZ advised us on the construction of the beach volleyball court so that it meets competition standards. We have had significant help from some local family businesses and would like to sincerely thank the Gaddum family and Gaddum Construction, the Pethybridge family and Pethybridge Contracting, and Brent Austin and Evolve Construction. We also had sweat, and hard labour from the Weaver, Dixon and Lee families. Sponsorship came from local businesses TW Moore Ltd, Orca Engineering and Metalcraft. I also wish to thank each past and present member of our Kaharoa Parent Teacher Association for your role, ideas and support. PTA members contribute selflessly for the greater good of our community and our school’s students. They help organise social and sporting events, raise funds to support students’ learning and enhance our school and community environment. Thankfully they also have a lot of fun!