2009 Whangarei Rest Home Olympics

90 people compete in the 2009 Whangarei Rest Home Olympics

NorthTec Sport and Recreation students hosted the 2009 Whangarei Rest Home Olympics on at the ASB Leisure Centre this week.

The Rest Home Olympics was hugely successful last year and has now become a regular event on the NorthTec calendar.

NorthTec’s Level 5 Sport and Recreation students organise and support the event which this year saw 90 people from 15 rest homes around Whangarei competing in a range of activities such as balloon volleyball, golf putting, noodle hockey, target bowls and ten pin bowling.

“The objectives of the event are to give the participants an enjoyable day out, where they have some fun and meet some new people,” said NorthTec Sport and Recreation tutor Bobby Newport.

“The event is part of a paper for NorthTec students called “Contemporary Issues in Physical Activity and Health” and provides them with an enjoyable experience working with the elderly.”

The Oxford Sports Trust helped fund the event in 2008 and again this year. Its CEO Don Armitage is a firm believer in the event’s merits. “It’s an absolutely stunning idea. It helps the rest home residents to integrate with a group of people that they otherwise wouldn’t see.”

The Olympics started with a rendition of the national anthem from NorthTec’s students and an enthusiastic warm up. Participating teams then did a walk around the gym with banners representing their individual rest homes to a stirring soundtrack designed to get the competitors ready for action.

There were enthusiastic cheers for team mates and the odd bit of friendly rivalry as competitors tried out all the events.

The overall winners were Forget Me Not Rest Home, who won every game they played.

NorthTec Sport and Recreation students hope to host the event again next year.

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