TOMORROW (Wednesday 2 March 2011), Stevenson College Edinburgh’s new Centre for Sport and Exercise will be opened by Margo MacDonald MSP and Aaron Mokoena, the most capped player for South Africa and captain of both South Africa and Portsmouth FC.
The £1.5m centre, which includes a sports hall, a modern gym and two classrooms, was completed in January 2011 and is an excellent facility to accommodate Stevenson’s sport and fitness students and benefit the wider community.
The new centre has given our students the opportunity to work in a realistic working environment and is already proving popular with our partner schools.
Our partnership with local primary schools enables the students to coach primary school pupils under supervision within the centre which, in turn, helps the schools to meet their commitment to deliver two hours of quality physical education for all pupils.
On Wednesday morning, pupils from Murrayburn Primary School will be coached not only by the students but by the captain of the South African football team!
Principal and chief executive, Brian Lister OBE, comments: “Not only is this project of benefit to the community, it also provides invaluable work experience for our Sport students and improves their employability skills.”
To mark the opening of the Centre, Stevenson has been running a ‘Pass It On’ campaign, encouraging staff and students to donate their old football kit to children and young people living in townships in South Africa.
The kit will be distributed via the Aaron Mokeona Foundation which was set up by Aaron last year.
His foundation aims to offer South African children and young people increased opportunities through sport. He is also an ambassador for the ‘1 Goal: Education for All’ campaign.
Sharon Drysdale, associate principal, Science, Sport and Engineering at Stevenson, said: “We are delighted that both Aaron and Margo have agreed to open our centre for Sport and Exercise.
“Margo has been a long time campaigner for Physical Education and Sport within Scotland and is convenor of the cross party group on sport.
“We see this as the beginning of a strong partnership with Aaron’s foundation and expect it to grow in the future to provide Stevenson’s students with sport coaching experiences in South Africa.
“We have had a great response to our Pass It On campaign so far, with kit already being donated from Hearts Football Club, Inverclyde Thistle Football Club and Craigmount High School, to name just a few.”
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Contact: Joe West
Phone: 01315354600
Email: joewest@stevenson.ac.uk
Website: http://www.stevenson.ac.uk
