At Collicutt School, some of Winnipeg’s most passionate soccer fans are students in Grade 3 with a serious attitude to play. “I get to score goals, amazing goals, and to have fun,” said Apsan, a student in Grade 3 at Collicutt School. Students like Apsan and others were thrilled this week to learn the school would be receiving state-of-the-art soccer nets.
For more than 15 years, old wooden planks represented goalposts at each end of the school’s field. Coun. Devi Sharma, who represents Old Kildonan, heard from constituents that the old posts fell in disrepair and helped facilitate a replacement.
The new nets - which came in at a $6,000 price tag - are part of a recreation project for the City of Winnipeg celebrating 150 years. The councillor was thrilled to give back to the Seven Oaks School Division she graduated from. “Investing in outdoor play equipment is an investment in our mental and physical health, which we all need,” Sharma said.
“When we invest in equipment like this, you don't want the bottom of the barrel. You want something that's going to last.” When it comes to the school’s budget, Principal Jamil Mian said money is tight for recreational programming.
Brand new equipment is something he never dreamed was on the horizon for his school. “Big purchases that are amazing, like soccer nets, those are things that we normally would never really be able to afford,” Mian said. “It would take years of planning and saving to be able to get somethi.