Calendar

The Arafura Alive event correlates with the year that the Arafura Games are hosted in Darwin. Although the event has taken varied forms over the years, the underlying aim is to provide an event to upper primary school students where they actively participate in modified versions of sports on offer at the Arafura Games, while at the same time giving teachers the opportunity to view sports specific lessons instructed by people experienced in each sport.

The Arafura Alive Event for 2011 will be held at the Marrara Sports Precinct on Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th March. We are expecting over 450 students in years 4 and 6 to participate in sports such as; paralympic athletics, golf, tenpin bowling, basketball, hockey, table tennis, sepak takraw, cricket, muaythai, life saving, triathalon, volleyball, weightlifting and football. Students rotate around the various sporting venues, representing the country their school had adopted through the Adopt-A-Country program.

Each day begins at 9am with a visit from the Arafura Games mascot ‘Rocky’ and an opening ceremony, where each school march under the banner of the country they have adopted. Teams then rotate through 30mins of activity in a sport where they were assessed on their skill, team work, participation and sportsmanship. Each day culminates in a closing ceremony where the countries in first, second and third place are presented with an award to display at their schools.

Students have the opportunity to try sports which they may not have played before and are also given the chance to play on fields and in stadiums usually only frequented by elite sports persons. Each sport session is instructed by School Sport Coordinators, Sports Development Officers and volunteers from community sporting organisations.

Contact: Natalie McMaster on 8999 4252 or natalie.mcmaster@nt.gov.au if your school is interested in participating in this event.