Kids’ sports eye view

“That’s the life for me,” he said.

For Paige, having these opportunities available at the school “means a lot.”

From athletics day to interschool sports and winter school sports, students at Shepparton East get plenty of chance to compete and represent their school.

Throw in their curriculum PE class, and they have plenty of fun along the way.

Athletics day is a fast favourite, and one of the most anticipated days on the school’s calendar for students, and it’s not hard to see why.

“Everyone gets to dress up in their house colours,” the pair said.

The fun doesn’t just stop there.

Each year, the school alternates between a fun run and a colour run, and Paige was quick to paint the picture.

“We just wear white and then throw paint on each other at the end,” she said.

Both Noah and Paige have earned their place representing Shepparton East at the next stage of the athletics competition, a reflection of the strong sporting culture the school has built.

For them, and many others, sport isn’t an extracurricular activity, it’s woven into everyday life at school.

All students get the exposure to physical activity and healthy competition as a matter of course, not just the naturally athletic ones.

It’s that inclusiveness that makes sport at Shepp East so valued by the students themselves.

Beyond athletics day, interschool and winter sports gives kids from all year levels the chance to pull on a school colour and represent something bigger than themselves.

“There are great opportunities,” Paige said.

For the two, these sporting events teach more than fitness, they teach pride, teamwork and a sense of belonging that carried through the rest of school life.

Whether it’s the nerves of athletics day, the mess of the colour run, or the honour of represent Shepp East at the next level, sport gives the students something to look forward to, and more so be a part of.

And that seems to be the real win.

BY Brynne Timewell