By Eric Ojo
Tare Pet Montessori Group of Schools Yenagoa has emerged the winner of the second edition of the Bayelsa State Netball Challenge.
The competition which held in the indoor sports hall of the Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa, was featured as part of the events marking this year’s Children’s Day celebration in the state.
Established in 2002 with a vision is to raise a generation of children who will love God, Tare Pet Montessori’s mission is to enhance creativity, teamwork, leadership skills and love among students.
The school offer a wide variety of extracurricular activities; ranging from music lessons, team sports, to art classes. Moreover, there are options that cater to every student’s interests.
The competition featured six other secondary schools including Nadam International school, Redeemer’s International School, Tessy School, Belary School, St Jude’s Girls Secondary School, and CSS Otuokpoti as well as Dynamite Divas Netball Club.
The two-day event which was organized by Bayelsa State Netball Association (BYSNA) was powered by Community Sport and Educational Development (CSED) Initiative.
At the end of the event, a trophy was presented to the winning school, while medals were presented to students of the four schools who made it to the semi-final in the round robin competition.
A Trustee of CSED Initiative stated that in their bid to encourage the students’ academic pursuit, they will donate eighty books to the libraries of the four top secondary schools before the end of the current school year.
A day before the competition started, 21 Physical Education (P.E.) teachers and coaches attended a half day safeguarding and netball rule training that was led by the current BYSNA Coordinator, Catherine Sasuode.
It would be recalled that CSED Initiative re-introduced netball to Bayelsa State in January 2023, via their PROJECT 2027 programme.
Meanwhile, the state is currently the most active netball area out of the current 6 states of the country where CSED Initiative has done the training of P.E. teachers in netball.
Due to the level of enthusiasm showed by Netball P.E. teachers, they will work with their supporters and partners to bring other sports training opportunities to the teachers and students in the state.
Bayelsa State Director of Sports, Sir Braveman Wodi and the Chairperson of Bayelsa State branch of International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Dame Debra Pamosoo, watched some of the matches of the competition. Marvelous Opuene, a 10-year-old primary 6 student of Tare Pet Montessori Group of Schools was the youngest netballer to take part in the competition. Marvelous played for Dynamite Divas Netball Club.
Outside from its victory in the Netball challenge, Tare Pet has made considerable advances with major improvements on the premises, an enhanced strategic footing and greater connectedness to the wider community, nationally and worldwide.
Notably, the school has previously featured and won other awards such as Cowbell Mathematics Competition and National French Competition.
Interestingly, its pupils come from a wide range and diverse mix of backgrounds. Moreover, it is one of the fastest growing boarding schools and one of only four coeducational full boarding schools in the state.
We are unashamedly academic – with 88% of pupils moving on to the leading universities in this country and abroad.
Proprietress of the school, Victoria Mologe said the pupils at Tare Pet Montessori receive much of the very best an independent education can provide, adding that the journey they make from the time they arrive to when they leave is often profoundly rewarding.
“A long the way we support their growing resilience and success as they move on to university and beyond. We delight in their achievements and welcome them back to inspire and encourage current pupils.
“We are unashamedly academic – with 88 percent of pupils moving on to the leading universities in this country and abroad”, she further stated in a statement published on the website of the school.