Bay Harbour: June 14, 2023

Bay Harbour News Wednesday June 14 2023
12
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Grants help young achievers
compete against the world
THE SUMNER Ferrymead
Foundation is helping four high
school students represent New
Zealand overseas.
For Sophie Cook, Iona Lawson,
Holly Sawyer and Amelie Wink,
competing on the international
stage is not an expensive exercise
and fundraising is essential.
Foundation trustee John
Christensen said while its focus
is on annual scholarships and
awards programme, it also
provides grants to individuals
and community organisations in
the Bay Harbour News area.
“When I look at the calibre
of those applying for the travel
grants, I suspect they will be
applying for one of the academic
scholarships or awards once they
start their tertiary education,
or for an Outward Bound
scholarship. We have some
talented kids in our community,
and it’s great to be able to assist
them represent their country.
Amelie, a year 13 Christchurch
Girls’ High School student, has
just returned from El Salvador
where she was the youngest
member in the NZ team competing
in the ISA world longboard
championships.
Amelie’s love surfing started
when she learned to ride a standup
paddle board with her dad as
a 7-year-old. Amelie attended her
first national surfing competition
when she was 13. But her trip
to El Salvador marked her first
international competition, where
she competed against some
of the top female surfers from
around the world.
“It was a fantastic experience.
We had 20 minutes to surf, and
as there were only two others
out there with me, I had plenty
of opportunities to catch some
great waves. Whilst I was happy
with the waves I caught, I got a
nasty gastro bug and it impacted
on my performance,” said
Amelie.
“I had done a lot of land based
training to build muscle memory
before I went, and any spare
moment I had I’d be in the water
practising.”
Meanwhile, Iona, a year 12
St Andrew’s College student,
will head to the to the world
pipe band championships in
Glasgow from August 18-19. She
started playing in the school’s C
Band in year 9 and worked her
way up through the grades. In
2021, she won the grade 2 New
Zealand championships but the
Covid pandemic stopped her
competing internationally until
this year.
Said Iona: “We needed to raise
a lot of money so I’ve been working
at the local supermarket,
busking and applying for grants.
I need to fit this in between
school work, the Duke of Edinburgh
Award and sport, so fortunately,
I’m pretty organised.”
Iona said Scotland is well and
truly in her blood. She was born
there and is considering moving
to Dunedin to attend university.
Holly, a year 11 St Margaret’s
College student, and her team
mates will attend the International
Future Problem Solving
Competition in the United
States after winning the New
Zealand competition last November.
About 80 to 100 teams
from around the world will be
RIDE: Amelie Wink has
returned from El Salvador
where she competed in
the ISA world longboard
championships.
Left – Holly Sawyer will
travel to the US for the
Future Problem Solving
Competition.
competing at the five-day event
where they must solve a hypothetical
problem of the future.
The competition teaches critical
and creative thinking, problem
solving and decision making.
Said Holly: “For the New Zealand
competition the topic was
mining and for the international
competition it will be currency.
“Whilst we don’t know what
the actual hypothetical problem
concerning currency will be, we
can do some research before we
go. We then use a six step process
to come up with a solution
within two hours. The challenge
is to balance the creativity of the
solution with a degree of practicality,
it’s a fine balance.”
Like all the grant applicants,
Holly must balance raising funds
to travel with study and playing
sport.
“It gets pretty busy when you
are studying, playing football,
lifeguarding, applying for grants,
baby-sitting and doing a paper
run, but it’s worth it!”
Sophia, a year 11 Rudolph
Steiner School student, will
represent New Zealand at the
Australian youth climbing
competition in the lead climbing
section.
Sophie has always loved
climbing. As a child, it was rocks
and trees, but when she began
climbing in a gym two years ago
she “got the bug”.
Initially she began bouldering
in the gym – when no ropes are
used and the focus is the difficulty
of the movements – as part of
an after-school programme. She
then progressed to lead climbing
where ropes are used and the
focus is endurance. Sophia finished
second at the New Zealand
nationals in the lead climbing
section, qualifying her to join the
NZ youth team.
One of the highlights of Sophia’s
climbing career was her
recent experience in Fiordland.
“Climbing outdoors brings
new challenges, particularly
mental challenges where you
have to overcome the fear of falling,
and you need to stay calm
to control your breathing as you
plan your route.”
A self-confessed “sort of
adrenaline junkie” Sophia loves
skiing, surfing, skate boarding
and hiking.
•For more information
on the Sumner Ferrymead
Foundation grants
programme for individuals,
teams or community
organisations, go to
www.sumnerferrymead
foundation.co.nz