This year has been one full of fun challenges for members of the Ashburton 1st BB (formerly Boys Brigade) adventure section.
Adventure section members aged eight to 10 recently constructed catapults from rubber bands and ice cream sticks.
Competing against others from around Canterbury, Ashburton BB were thrilled when their member Amadeus was announced third in the competition, at a camp at Glentui.
Alongside catapults, the Ashburton BB members researched and crafted their own aeroplane models.
The models were judged by Merv Falconer, a retired pilot from the Ashburton District who has been teaching the boys about flying planes and sharing his experiences as a pilot.
The winning plane, a World War 2 Yakovlev Yak-3, was constructed by Sergiy. Second was Flexure who made a mobile of five World War 2 Spitfire planes, while Mathew’s creation of a float plane was highly commended.
BB 1st Ashburton captain Ross Holland said the boys were excited as their wins would be rewarded with a flight in an ATR 72-500 simulator at the Ashburton Aviation Museum when the company visited later this year.
The challenges followed two competitions earlier this year.
A team of six took part in the BB multisport event in Christchurch last term. Competing against nine teams, the Ashburton team came out winners for the second year in a row.
The activities included indoor football, hockey, cornhole toss and a quiz.
‘‘The competition was pretty even with a few of our games ending in a draw,’’ Holland said.
‘‘Our boys kept their cool under pressure, to win the penalty shootouts and take first place overall.’’
Earlier this year a team of six from the company also took part in the 2023-2024 Juniors International Team Games. There were 268 teams competing from 11 countries.
The Ashburton team was placed 103rd. They have taken part for a number of years with a 94th placing out of 253 teams last year. The competition included skittles, balancing and ball skills.
Ashburton team did their competition activities at the Ashburton Sports Hall.
‘‘I don’t think the young boys completely understand they are competing internationally when doing games in their own hall,’’ Holland said.
– To find out more about Ashburton 1st BB email ashboysbrigade@gmail.com
