To Mr Gary Kircher
My name is Ella Fraser and I am a Year 8 student at Oamaru Intermediate School. Every Saturday morning I play netball at the North Otago netball courts on Taward Street. I strongly think that Oamaru should have an indoor court, like the Edgar Centre in Dunedin. For reasons like it will decrease the amount of injury on court, it will increase the variety of sport played indoor, and if we can get regional teams to play at the centre, it will inspire young players to be the best they can be.
Firstly, if it is raining, or the weather is too rough, netball games will have to be cancelled, incase of injury. But if we have indoor courts, Saturday sport won’t have to be cancelled, because we will have a warm, dry court and it will be safe for the players. Ankle, wrist, hand and knee injuries often occur in netball when you slip over or land funny. So if the court is dry, no one will slip over, and no one will get hurt.
Secondly, there could be a variety of sports played at the centre, not just netball. There could be basketball too, and even indoor cricket. Sometimes, my team and I go to Dunedin, Balclutha, or even Christchurch for netball tournaments. It costs lots of money to get down there, to pay for petrol, food, and the expenses for actually playing. It would save families lots of money if we have a court to play in tournaments here, in Oamaru.
My next reason is if regional teams like the Southern Steel, Central Pulse, or Mainland Tactix came to play in our indoor court, lots of young players could go to the game. It would inspire them a lot- i know it would inspire me HEAPS to watch Jane Watson play! Maybe one lucky kid might meet their hero! Again, it would also save some money, if we didn’t have to drive all the way to Dunedin to see the game.
And lastly, I feel that the old Mitre 10 building would make a perfect sized indoor court. We don’t need it to be as big as the one in Dunedin, just 4-5 courts is enough. If we do decide to use this building, it would save the government a lot of money because the structure of the building is already there. You won't have to get all the equipment to concrete all the floors and walls. We could even fundraise money to contribute with the costs of building the courts.
So in conclusion, I feel that the Oamaru community would benefit from the idea of building an indoor court because of the reasons I have just provided you with. It will decrease the amount of injury on court, it will increase the variety of sport played indoor, and if we can get regional teams to play at the centre, it will inspire young players and maybe, just maybe, they will meet some of their heroes. Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Yours sincerely,
Ella
