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Manukau Courier : July 25th 2014
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Friday, July 25, 2014 Netball mums together By NIGEL MOFFIET YOUNG mums are building a community – pass by pass. Parents and teachers from Wiri Central School have formed two senior women’s netball teams in a bid to bring people together and promote fitness. The programme is a first for the school and co-ordinator Stefany Maxwell was determined to get everybody on their feet. ‘‘It was a goal for me to start it and through the guidance of the school and local community we have established it,’’ she says. The teams got up and running in March with more than 25 parents and teachers signing on. They practice up to four days a week and play other senior sides from around Auckland every Saturday. Funding for equipment and uniforms came from the Trusts Community Foundation and support was also provided by the Sisters of Mercy Wiri Trust. Maxwell, who has three kids at the school, says she’s delighted by how much the initiative has enriched the community. ‘‘I’ve been here since my daugh- ter started school and I’ve never known any of the parents but now I can say hi to them by name. ‘‘It’s not just during practice or on the courts but we go out to lunch, we go to our children’s birthday parties and it’s establishing that throughout the community.’’ School principal Jan Donaldson has helped support the teams and says it has created ‘‘social cohesion’’. ‘‘It has lots of things I think are very beneficial like health benefits and parents being good role models for their children by playing sport and being involved in a social activity,’’ she says. ‘‘Those are great things we want to encourage in the community. ‘‘It also directly benefits the school by bringing parents through the gate. ‘‘Some of our parents probably Role models: Establishingwomen’s netball teamsatWiriCentral School has brought parents and teachers together. Co-ordinator Stefany Maxwell says everyoneinvolved has provided great support. for her to meet new friends. ‘‘I’ve met a lot of new parents Go the manukaucourier.co.nz and click on Latest Edition to hear more about the mums and their netball. didn’t have great experiences when they were at school so school is not always perceived as a positive place but it breaks those barriers down,’’ Donaldson says. Parent Atalia Berking has two boys at the school and says starting up netball has been a great way who all live around here but I never knew before,’’ she says. ‘‘I’m making great friendships with the ladies, having lots of fun and I’ve lost some weight too.’’ Many of the parents are also learning to umpire and are helping out with school games before their own matches on the weekends. ‘‘Some of the mothers have never played netball before – they love it. ‘‘They might get tired but they carry on. I take my hat off to them,’’ Maxwell says. Teamwork: WiriCentral School principal Jan Donaldson, left, and co-ordinator Stefany Maxwell say a new netball initiative for parents and teachersisbreaking down barriersand buildingcommunity spirit. Long life andfarming background By ANNA LOREN Long life: Doris Baxter on the eve of her 100th birthday. Photo: FAIRFAX NZ One of South Auckland’s oldest residents has died exactly three months after celebrating her 104th birthday. Doris Baxter appeared in the Manukau Courier in 2010 and credited her long life to her farming background. She succumbed to illness on Saturday but was still getting around with the help of a walking stick just a month before her death. Daughter Barbara Dennett, who she lived with in Papatoetoe, says OBITUARY Doris was a ‘‘very caring person’’. ‘‘She did lots of things for lots of people in lots of ways that you never hear about and you don’t get the Queen’s medal for.’’ Doris was brought up in Whangarei and Ngatea and her early days revolved around ‘‘friends and family and farm and faith’’, her youngest daughter Yvonne Childers says. ‘‘My mum remembered trotting in the horse and buggy to visit her grandma. She lived 15 miles away and it took an hour to get there.’’ Doris left school at the age of 13 and worked in a grocer’s shop. She and husband William, an electrician, would later have their own store in Epsom. World War II was a big turning point in her life, Dennett says. ‘‘The men coming back from the war... when you go through a war you can’t come back unscathed. There was a change in New Zealand. She was always saying that.’’ Doris was a mother of four, grandmother of 23 and great- grandmother of 40. She cared for her own parents for 15 years and would often take meals to sick neighbours, her daughters say. ‘‘She never said much about her- self – she was doing so much for everybody else,’’ Childers says. ‘‘She didn’t believe in developing strong egos. She never cut down tall poppies but she was very quiet and discreet. That’s probably why she lived so long.’’ Doris will be farewelled tomorrow at 11am at St George’s Anglican Church, 5 Landscape Rd, Papatoetoe. Photos: NIGEL MOFFIET
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