Basketballers fundraise for dream USA trip

Members of a local basketball team are working hard to raise funds, including undertaking an extensive beach cleanup after the Anniversary Weekend floods. The team, Whanga Coast Ballers, is made up of Year 8 and 9 Whangaparāoa College students – Daniel Winslow, Kaelan Perenara, Max Cockayne, Luca Hutchison, Tane Muaulu-Kelleher, Noah Boyle, Aston Soper, Luca Hutchinson, Luka Foster, Liam Cresswell, Nikora Peihopa and Noa Salvert-Polard.

Every week, they have three hours of oncourt training, plus two hours of endurance work on the beach, led by coaches Mike Castagna and Jacob O’Brien. They play teams well above their age.

Their clean-up of 11 local beaches on March 5 included removing piles of logs – a trailer was needed to haul the rubbish away.

Gaining sponsorship for the clean-up is one of many ways in which the team is raising funds so that they can go to the USA next January for a four-day Golden State Warriors Basketball training academy. Making that possible means raising $340 each, every month, to secure $4000 by the end of the year. The money will go towards airfares, accommodation, food and the four-day basketball academy training camp. Any funds left over will go towards more basketball courts and hoops on the coast. One of their next fundraisers is a ‘layupathon’, in which sponsors donate money to players who have to make a layup for every dollar donated.

Donations to help Whanga Coast Ballers reach their goal can also be made at https:// givealittle.co.nz/cause/basketball-teamtrying-to-get-to-usa-academy

Manly residents turned out in force for a community clean-up of the beach on Saturday, March 18. Around 60 people of all ages, some bringing their tractors, trailers, rakes, buckets, chainsaws and garden bags, came along to remove the debris left by Cyclone Gabrielle. One of the volunteers, Manly resident Debbie Vercoe, says there were so many that the work, which covered the whole beach, was completed in a relatively short time. The five skip bins provided by Whangaparāoa MP Mark Mitchell and the Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust were all filled. Debbie says most of the material was wood, including some huge logs, along with general rubbish. “The community thanks everyone who made an effort to be there,” she says. “There was so much energy and passion for the job –everyone worked very hard. It was a fantastic effort and the beach looks so much better.”

April School Holidays at Matakana Village

There's fun for the whole family at Matakana Village these school holidays Featuring a chocolate factory, a cinema, arts & crafts, boutique shopping, gifts, flowers and cuisine for every taste And you can even meet the Easter Bunny at the famous Farmers' Market! www co nz It’s an experience - and it’s open every day