School Sports - New Zealand

Product Details

School Sports Project

Make a difference by coaching a wide variety of sports at a school in Auckland.

The School Sports Project is a very worthwhile project designed to give you a really intensive coaching placement and improve your coaching CV.

We work with a variety of schools in Auckland. One of the schools has a large number of disadvantaged children and the other is more affluent but offers a huge variety of different sports for your to coach.

On this project you will have the opportunity to coach these children your favourite sport or a mixture of sports during the day. In the evening you will have the opportunity to join a specialized sports team where you will be able to coach and play one or more different sports.

The Placement:

You will be working at a school located in Auckland. We work with a variety of schools one being for the more disadvantaged and the other being more affluent. The disadvantaged school has children from a variety of backgrounds and countries such as Maori children and children from Sudan and Somalia who are refugees, as well as children from other lower economic countries such as Samoa and Tonga. Both schools have good facilities that will enable you to coach a variety of different sports.

There are a wide number of sports available to coach on this project and you will be involved in a wide range of sporting activities, giving you great diversity on the project. The sports are generally coached by season, but if you wanted to coach a sport that was not in season, or if you wanted to introduce a new sport to the children, the school would welcome it as long as it was of benefit to the children. Each school offers different sports so if there was a particular sport that you were interested in coaching (for example sailing) please let us know and we will make arrangements for this.

The sports vary with each term, as follows:

Term 1: Swimming, tennis, cricket, athletics, golf, windsurfing, scuba diving & softball
Term 2: Rugby union & league, football, hockey, waterpolo, golf, windsurfing, scuba diving, basketball, netball & volleyball
Term 3: Gymnastics, basketball, badminton, waterpolo, golf, windsurfing, scuba diving, rugby league, football, netball & volleyball
Term 4: Athletics, tennis, waterpolo, basketball, cricket, cross country & football.

The School Sports Project will take place during the day. In the late afternoons and evenings, you'll have the opportunity to coach and train at a sports club in Auckland. We work with a wide variety of sports clubs, so no matter what field your skills lie in, you will be able to coach and train in your field.

Coaching Times and Project dates:

This project runs during the school terms. The school terms for 2007 are as follows:

Term 3: 10th July - 21st September
Term 4: 8th October - 20th December

The school terms for 2008 are as follows:

Term 1: 4th Feb - 18th April
Term 2: 5th May - 4th July
Term 3: 21st July - 26th September
Term 4: 13th October - 15th December

The lessons you will be coaching in will last for 45 minutes and the school day runs from around 8:30 - 3:00 pm.

As a volunteer you will be assisting the sports teacher to coach the children. You'll spend about 4 to 5 hours a day helping the children at the school. You can also stay behind after school to coach one of the school teams if you wish.

Accommodation and Location

Our accommodation is located in the city centre of Auckland. Therefore you are very central, close to the main train station and shopping district.

You'll be accommodated in a centrally located lodge that is friendly and relaxing, making it ideal for long-term stays. You may have your own room or you may share a room with other volunteers. There is an excellent kitchen and storage area for cooking meals and plenty of space to relax.

Entertainment at your accommodation includes cheap internet access and cable TV (Sky) as well as an outside balcony. You are literally a stroll from the Sky Tower, harbor and waterfront. Trains and buses are also only a few minutes away to take you to parts of Auckland and New Zealand or to the many other ‘things to do’!

The city centre boasts great shopping, restaurants and pubs or head over to the viaduct for more pubs, nightclubs and multicultural cuisine. You'll get to work via bus, which is close to your accommodation.

Maori settlement in Auckland was at least 800 years ago where by different tribes built fortifications on the various volcanoes in Auckland. When the British arrived in 1840 they claimed Auckland as the capital city of New Zealand until Wellington became the capital 25 years later.The city is modern and vibrant - a fun and friendly city with beautiful surrounding islands and harbour.

Some of its more famous attractions include the Sky Tower, Rangitoto Island, the Harbour, the Hukani Gulf Islands and the many extinct volcanoes that are in Auckland which provide great views of the city.

Auckland has restaurants to suit all tastes - the most popular cuisine is New Zealand lamb which can be ordered at many restaurants around the city and is well worth it.

For meals in local restaurants, a trip to Auckland's inner city centre is well worth the effort - it bustles with activity and offers a range of choices of restaurants.