Ignite gives Marlburian girls a sporting chance

Well before she enrolled at Marlborough Girls’ College, sport played a part in Ryleigh Gale’s life. She took up netball at age 9 and athletics at age 12. Yet, she might have had an even more active upbringing.

“I’ve always wanted to try touch rugby and rowing,” Ryleigh mentioned last Thursday at Lansdowne Park, standing in a semicircle with three other MGC student leaders.

“I never had the confidence to go to trials.” She’s not alone. Competitive try-outs daunt many of her peers. That emotional barrier is substantial, a deterrent that renders other considerations – time, cost, commitments – moot.

Enter the Ignite Kōhine Māia Festival of Sport – the reason the MGC manutaki were at the park. They volunteered to help facilitate the experience of Year 8 and Year 9 girls from their college, Queen Charlotte College, Bohally Intermediate, Redwoodtown School, Riverlands School and St. Mary’s School.

All told, 187 girls gave a sporting chance to activities offered by Marlborough’s codes for cricket, golf, hockey, Ki-o-rahi, rugby (league, rippa and touch), softball and volleyball (on this day, beach as opposed to indoor).

Last Thursday brought just the third annual festival, so the Year 13s did not have the avenue opened for younger schoolmates.

It would have made a difference, said MGC manikura Piper Patrick, “100%. We were just talking about how we wanted to see if this could be an opportunity that we could bring to older years, as well.

“I think we all wish we could have this opportunity that all of these young women from around Marlborough have.”

‘Safe environment’
Around the grounds, smiles abounded. Groups of friends – some from campus, some made on the spot – rotated between areas set up for and by the sport codes.

Volleyball took place on the park’s sand courts, and the rugby variants on grass fields; these required less improvisation than, say, golf and hockey.

Each girl picked five sports to try in a four-hour span including a lunch break. As organiser Logan Philp explained with activity in the background, Ignite fosters “a safe environment” in which participants “are free to go and have fun … to make friends and build relationships.”

Logan, Marlborough community outreach adviser for sponsoring organisation Sport Tasman, said the codes prioritise camaraderie over competition. Drills and demonstrations work as readily for absolute beginners as for aspirants with skills. Girls face no pressure to impress.

The hope is they will find a sport that inspires them to pursue it further – with familiar faces joining their journey.

Rachel Sullivan, participation coordinator for Tasman Golf, appreciates what Ignite provides. Ironically, she was not a golfer before talking the job with the golfing code two years ago; she’d rowed dragon boats and played football. Rachel is learning now, though, and wonders whether an Ignite event might have lit a fire earlier.

“There are quite a few barriers that we’re still working through in various sports,” she said, pausing for a moment to answer two girls’ questions. “Fifteen years ago, we didn’t have anything like this. There are a lot of opportunities presenting themselves for girls – for younger people – and it’s awesome to see.”

Visit sporttasman.org.nz for more about Sport Tasman and offerings in the region.