Konini Primary School recognised that about 80% of their students weren’t interested in accessing physical activity in traditional ways, such as by joining a Rippa Rugby or Softball team. This meant that only a handful of kids were getting the experience of participating in inter-school events, like tennis tournaments.

Matt Pegg, a teacher at Konini Primary, saw an opportunity to change this. With the support of the local tennis club, he and some other teachers from schools in the area organised for all the students to come to the inter-school tennis tournament and play one of five different activities, involving different skills, in rounds. This meant that all the kids got an opportunity to get out and be active, and that no one was out of a game for more than about 30 seconds.

Matt also realised that some students liked dance, rather than sport, so he organised for a dance teacher to create ten dance moves for kids across different schools to choose from, create a routine to learn, and to then perform at an inter-school dance competition at the local community centre. This got over 400 parents and students engaged to watch and take part, giving kids an experience that boosted their self-esteem and confidence in relation to physical activity.

He notes that schools often don’t do things like these because of lack of time and resources, which is why the Play.Sport Activators and facilitators are so important for giving staff support to get initiatives like this up and running.

"It showed the community there are a lot of kids here who want to be active, just in a non-traditional way."