The second ever COSARS (Connection Of Small And Rural Schools) session brought together year eight students from the Mid Canterbury area to Ashburton’s EA Network Centre.

The session consisted of students from six rural schools taking part across three different stations.

The idea behind the session is to help the tamariki connect through play, active recreation and sport before they head to high school next year.

One station was focused on introductory to the sport of handball, another focused on encouraging communication and leadership, and the last station was for running around outdoors, playing with playdough and chalk in the hopes it would motivate socialisation amongst students.

James Cochrane, from New Zealand Handball, came down to teach the tamariki the fundamentals of handball, with the aim of generating some interest in the sport and exposing them to something potentially new.

“COSARS is a really great opportunity not only for these kids but for the likes of more minor sports in New Zealand to get a bit of exposure and show kids that there is a lot more out there to choose from than the mainstream sports.”

Alice Breading, Community Advisor for Mid Canterbury at Sport Canterbury also believes it’s a great window for smaller sports to gain exposure in the community.

“An opportunity that lies with COSARS is to have your sport involved.”  

Alice encourages any other sporting codes interested in taking part to get in touch at alice.breading@sportcanterbury.org.nz