WITH a school roll of 150 students, Noco Secondary School fielded 60 athletes to the inter-school athletics competition at the HFC Bank Stadium in Suva yesterday.
Five participating schools, Noco Secondary, Nakasi High, Nabua Secondary, Davuilevu Methodist, and Rewa Secondary, participated in the inter-school athletics competition.
Noco Secondary School principal Jone Tuitavua said they wanted to give their students as much exposure before the zone meet and the Fiji Finals.
“They also managed to make friends with the other students, we have been reminding them of what to expect when they get this exposure because most of them are from the villages.
“The competitive spirit is there as they know they are running with other schools,” he said.
The school has set its target for this year, and students are motivated to go further than their team did last year.
“We just want to improve from last year where we did not win any medals at the Fiji Finals but the positive was the participation of eight of our students. We just want to improve from there, the students have made it their personal goal if we can win something this year.
“We want to take 20 to 30 students to the zones and maybe around 10 to the Fiji Finals- that will be an achievement. During the zone, we will only take the best, only those that have qualified,” the principal added.
Schools like Noco Secondary are limited by factors of proximity and costs of travel which starves them from accessing top facilities in the urban centres.
“Most of the schools taking part today do not have grounds to hold our meets, let alone to train so that is why we must bring in as many as we want.
“Last year we didn’t conduct our inter-house because of the weather but we were able to take part in the zone and the Fiji Finals,” Tuitavua said.
Noco finished in fourth place at the inter-schools with two gold, six silver, and two bronze medals.
