The Gulf Youth Sport 'Fit to Teach' Award for August goes to Jarrod Purdy from Raha International School.
The popular Aussie is currently soaking up the sun in Bali during his summer holidays, and boy has he earned them.
Jarrod and his committed PE teaching team have revolutionised Raha International School's extra-curricular sports programme, leading to a surge in participation numbers, as well as a considerable upturn in fortunes for the 'Raha Raptors' on the sports field.
This hard work was recently recognised at the recent UAE Teen Sports & Fitness Awards, where Jarrod was honoured with the Best Male Coach (Schools) Award.
We asked Jarrod to give us a little overview of the work that resulted in him receiving the award, and also how it felt to win such a prestigious accolade!
"Firstly, I’d like to say that I could not have achieved anything without the efforts of our Athletic director Andrea McKinnon & fellow PE teacher Ben Willgoss, they worked tirelessly this year.
We set out with the intention of providing more opportunities for student play at lunchtime, therefore, doing extra duties to permit more play. Additionally, we increased our connections with the wider community by reaching out to Vogue Fitness for sponsorship & fitness training opportunities & Abu Dhabi Cricket to utilize their facilities. They were very accommodating & both opportunities created greater Raha unity; the Rugby boys would proudly wear their ‘CrossFit Yas’ training shirts to school.
Finally, ‘anytime’ is the most convenient time to train students. With only one pitch at our school, it is difficult to schedule a training session, therefore, if there was a morning session starting at 6.30am, or a Thursday afternoon (when everyone wants to go home!) we would take it! I’m just very glad that we have such enthusiastic students.
I was very humbled just to be nominated to be honest & when they called out my name, I froze a little, it took a few moments to sink in. It’s great to feel appreciated & I am very grateful for the recognition."
Congratulations to you and your team on your award Mr Purdy – we're sure your students are delighted to have you and your colleagues as their PE teachers, and are looking forward to the summer holidays being over so they can get back to Raha!