Mar 25, 2010
SMK St Mary’s gets new basketball court
A picture paints a thousand words and the smiles on the faces of the students of SMK St Mary’s in Selayang said it all at the official opening of their new basketball cum netball court.
To commemorate the occasion, the girls gave a demo match in the presence of guest of honour, S P Setia Foundation chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.
The opening of the court was the culmination of three years of waiting. The foundation donated RM61,700 towards the construction of the court.
“I hope that you will all make full use of this dual-purpose court and strive to bring your team’s achievement to greater heights,” said Lee.
SMK St Mary’s basketball team came in third in the Sentul Zone in 2007 and have shown great potential to be a winning team.
“The addition of this new court is not only a safer option for the students, I hope it will further encourage sporting excellence among SMK St Mary’s students,” Lee added.
The foundation has always placed a strong emphasis on education, believing that a sound education is an investment for the future.
“This is the main reason why we are focused on providing education assistance to needy pupils,” said Lee.
Under the foundation’s Setia Adoption Programme (SAP), an annual budget of over RM2mil is set aside yearly to provide educational assistance to 2,300 students from seven states nationwide.
Today, the SAP has achieved great success with the first batch of Setia Adopted Children already pursuing their tertiary education and is still funded by the foundation according to their course levels.
However, Lee said that achieving good academic results alone would not create a balanced school life as students needed to be given a platform to excel in extracurricular activities, such as sports where they could cultivate team spirit.
SMK St Mary’s chairman of the Board of Governors Datuk Stanley Isaacs recorded his heartfelt thanks to the foundation for its assistance.
“We are most happy to receive this special gift today and to officially declare it open,” he said.
“I hope with this new court in place, the school team will aim for greater heights to be champion of the Sentul Zone and perhaps at state-level too,” said Isaacs.
Lee shared a light moment with the basketball team on their new court when he tried his hand at shooting some baskets amid thunderous cheers from the students and teachers present.
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