Record numbers register for Summer Sports Programme

8am and already the light blue shirts were at the ready. With tables spread across the MUGA court, information signs in place, barriers at the ready and GSLA staff monitoring the gates, Monday, July 6, saw the return of Summer Sports.

It might have been a somewhat chaotic preparation this year due to the initial uncertainties over when the Summer Sports programme would actually begin.

Without an end-of-term date being confirmed until late in the summer term, planning had been difficult. However, once again the programme had come together, with volunteers certified, trained and prepared for the next two months of work.

As 8.30am arrived and the sound of a whistle called volunteers and leaders together, the first of the children were already arriving to wait by the gates at the Bayside Sports Complex.

Restrictions were put in place so that parents could drop off their children safely within the car park, but not park their vehicles inside the facilities.

Years of experience, learning from previous mistakes and implementing improved procedures made for a seamless start, very much like the beginning of a new school term. Albeit this time there were no classrooms or teachers, just sports venues, coaches, instructors and volunteers.

Slowly the stream of arrivals became a small deluge, flowing faster and with greater urgency as parents dropped off their young ones. The children were safely in the hands of the GSLA Summer Sports programme organisers while their parents headed off to work.

The seamless transition between school and the sports programme had not materialised this year because of the delayed start. However, now that the programme was under way, it was back to a familiar routine.

A new record had already been set, although the final registration figures, including those signing up on the day, were not yet known. The programme had already recorded its highest-ever number of online registrations before Monday.

Even with a large number of volunteers available to make registration and signing in as quick as possible, queues still formed on the first day as children arrived to enrol.

With Monday marking the first day that all the plans put in place were tested in real conditions, organisers watched with concern as the numbers continued to arrive. Extra tables were quickly added, bringing the total into double figures as the registration process was adapted to keep people moving.

Their serious expressions contrasted with the smiling faces of the youngsters who had already signed in and were enjoying the fun.

The noise and ambience at the MUGA were electric. The well-trained volunteers, overseen by the now highly experienced organising team, maintained tight control of what was a major operation.

The composure and discipline on display highlighted the weeks of training that had gone into preparing the programme. With the noise, combined with the urgency of parents arriving and leaving, what might have appeared to the untrained eye as chaos was, in reality, a well-orchestrated symphony that soon provided the harmonious opening notes for the next two months of the Summer Sports programme.

The smiles and enjoyment on the faces of the young children in those early moments, as they joined the programme, were a clear indication that it is once again expected to be another successful summer.