From the beach to promoting kids' ‘tryathlon’

TRY TIME: From left, Shauna Polley, Nathan Proctor, Ella Sutherland, Hayley Woods and Julia Tilley practise their running stances for the Gisborne Weet-Bix TRYathlon in February. Ms Tilley and Ms Polley are in town promoting the run-swim-bike event after volleyball tournaments overseas. The New Zealand representatives say they are excited to get Gisborne kids enthused about the event before they head to Rarotonga this weekend for the second phase of Olympic qualifiers. Picture by Rebecca Grunwell

STRAIGHT off the plane from her volleyball adventures, Gisborne athlete Julia Tilley is back to promote an event of a different code.

Ms Tilley has been appointed the new schools and volunteers manager for the Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon, in between training and competing.

She and volleyball partner Shauna Polley have been in the Philippines and Hong Kong, where they won the Fit to Hit invitational tournament and placed ninth in the Asian Championships.

Now the pair are getting kids in Gisborne excited about exercise via the TRYathlon event.

“It is a great way to get kids active. Things like this are where it all starts from — that love and enjoyment of exercise plants the seed of growth, passion and, for some, competitiveness,” says Ms Tilley.

Gisborne has highest attendanceThe TRY is held in 14 locations around the country. Gisborne joined the roster in 2013 and last year had the highest attendance rate per capita in Australasia.

Gisborne’s 2016 TRY will take place on February 16. Ms Tilley travelled to Manutuke School, Wainui Beach School, Riverdale School, Mangapapa School, Makaraka School and Campion College to get students excited.

As an former student who began her volleyball career at Campion College, hosting the assembly there was a special moment.

“Last year they had the largest amount of participants in Gisborne. To have one of the smallest cities have so many participants is just awesome.”

Kids from the age of 7 to 15 can enter the run-swim-bike event individually, or as a team. The distances of each leg are suited to each age group.

Sport Gisborne Tairawhiti is behind the TRY too, making sure all those who want to enter can, by subsidising the entry fee by $10 for the first 1000 people who register.

CEO Brent Sheldrake says Sport Gisborne loves to support the event.

“We acknowledge that cost is a major barrier for our local kids, so through partnering with ECT and the Weet-Bix Foundation, we have come up with a solution to help offset some of that cost and hopefully make the choice of participating more affordable,” he said.

The Weet-Bix Foundation was established in 2007 to give a helping hand to those who do not have the means to take part. Last year they donated six bikes to Nga Uri a Maui students.

The Gisborne TRY will be at Nelson Park. Entries are now open. To register go to try.weetbix.co.nz/parents/register.

To apply for funding, or to nominate someone for funding from the Weet-Bix Foundation, go to try.weetbix.co.nz/schools/weetbix-foundation