Mitre 10 Mega Tough Kid in Whanganui comes of age; Tough Teens event added

The Year 3-8 primary school kids will be joined by the older set after a Tough Teens event was added to the annual Mitre 10 Mega Tough Kid programme this year.

The Mitre 10 Mega Tough Kid event in Whanganui has come of age and this year a Tough Teens event will run in tandem.

While the added Tough Teen attraction still falls under the Tough Kid brand umbrella, it will be run by the Whanganui Secondary Schools Student Sports Council body YESS (Youth Empowering Sports Squad) catering for Year 9 and 10 students with support from the team at Sport Whanganui.

The Tough Teens event will run at the end of the Tough Kids programme scheduled for Cooks Gardens on Friday, December 7.

"We are really excited to expand the Tough Kid event further this year and introduce Tough Teens for year 9 and 10 students," Sport Whanganui's young people adviser Amie Back said.

"The YESS council is working hard to increase junior participation in sport and identified a need for a junior participation event to get more young people active and having fun."

There will be prizes up for grabs for toughest school, best dressed individual/group and best school banner. The race will start directly after the main Tough Kid event which caters for Year 3-8 primary school children.

In 2017 the event attracted about 2000 children and Sport Whanganui is confident of a similar turnout this year.

"Continuing on from last year the event will follow suit as a water-only affair. This is an initiative led by Healthy Families Whanganui and the Whanganui District Health Board to increase access to drinking water, an initiative Sport Whanganui is proud to have a strong partnership with. There will also be healthy food options available on the day," Back said.

The Mitre 10 MEGA Tough Kid started in 2011 with 519 children participating and has not only tripled in numbers locally, it has also grown to three events throughout the region and is now run by four other regional sport trusts nationally.

Sport Whanganui encourages all children to have fun and give it a go. High importance is placed on engaging children who would not otherwise benefit from representing their school in a regional sporting event resulting in a sense of pride, belonging, reward and achievement.

"Sport Whanganui is thankful for the support they receive for this event and would like to thank major sponsor Mitre 10 MEGA Wanganui along with supporting businesses and groups including Whanganui Community Foundation, Healthy Families, A+ Plumbing, Cancer Society, Wanganui Fire Service, Army Cadets, Wanganui Police, Bridgestone, More FM & Hoskin Carriers."

• Sport Whanganui is also on the hunt for volunteers to help with the event. For details, contact Amie Back on (06) 349 2326, or email: amie@sportwhanganui.co.nz