Harris Park locals enjoy Family Fun Day
Parramatta City Council organised the Harris Park Community Day on September 5 at the Robin Thomas Reserve and James Ruse Reserve. Thousands of locals gathering together for a day of fun, competitions and entertainment, and even windy weather didn’t dent the crowd’s enthusiasm. Over a hundred children from the local community area participated in the unique skills competition organised by New Australian Sports Association and Footwork Sports Academy, supported by Parramatta Council.
The children also competed in a round robin soccer tournament played between six teams, the Westmead Rabbits, Blacktown Knights, Harris Park Eels, Westmead Tigers, Parramatta Panthers and Wentworthville Titans. The tournament was won by the local team, the Harris Park Eels who defeated the Parramatta Panthers in the finals.
The Harris Park local community enjoyed the tournament, cheering their children until they were hoarse, and fond memories of fun and excitement will stay with all for a long time to come.
This unparalleled effort from the Parramatta Council will definitely increase the level of connectivity between residents of Harris Park. In particular, its staffers Gavin Lawrence, Supervisor Recreation Programs and Chris McAlpine deserve a special mention.
More spice was added to the celebration as Parramatta City Councillor John Chedid presided over the formal awards ceremony, and he presented the winners with mementos. In the Soccer and Cricket Skills competition, Aditya Dhond, Louie, Aditya Kadam, Dave Sarang Dubey, Surya, Yatin, Ryan Anson, Ayush Gupta, Sanjay Nambisan, Mohak Issar, Shubhika Dubey and Sreyan were all victorious in their respective age group. Cr Chedid also officially opened the James Ruse playground, saying, “The playground will provide children with entertaining play equipment in the enjoyable outdoor setting of James Ruse Reserve.”
The new, colourful playground incorporates an agricultural theme to reflect the area as being part of the first land grant and the first successful farm in Australia. Children from Footwork Sports Academy were among the first to enjoy the playground and other activities organised.
The fun day also featured many activities for children and special guest professional skateboarder Jacke Hayes wowed the audience with a live skateboarding demonstration at the James Ruse Reserve Skate Park.
“The family fun day brought together people from all different cultures and provided a wonderful opportunity for locals to get together, mingle and spend a warm spring day outdoors with the family,” said Cr Chedid.
The fun day helped provide the community at large and especially young children, an opportunity to access activities which are usually rare to come by. The communities need to work together more often and develop a feeling of being a part of something bigger.
Special thanks goes to students from Macarthur Girls High who offered help through the day, and parents who contributed their time to make the event a very special one. Another event of this kind is planned in week 7 of the next school term, and if you would like to be a part of this, please call Sanjiv Dubey on 0433 669 334.
Sanjiv Dubey
