Two Washington Valley footballers have scored a goal with assistance from Nelson City Council.
Brothers Jamison, 10, and Cooper Watson, 12, had headed down to nearby Pioneer Park for a kick at every opportunity, using a concrete wall and cones for football goals.
Their mother Odette Watson says her sons soon realised the park would benefit from some proper goals, and they began collecting signatures in the neighbourhood late last year to accompany a letter with their request for the installation to Nelson Mayor Nick Smith.
“All of our friends, when they came over, they were like ‘oh my god, that’s such a great idea’ and they were all so proud of them writing a letter to the Mayor,” she says.
Nick says he responded to the Watson’s letter in March this year, saying he supported their idea, however, due to the backup of projects due to the severe weather event in August, they were unable to install the posts right away.
Nick assured the boys that council would keep the request on its list of park projects.
“Their letter was delightful, and almost impossible to say no to… and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to deliver on that commitment to the boys to this Washington Valley community,” Nick says.
“Football’s just an incredible sport for people of all walks of life and ethnicities together, we have parks like Pioneer Park to encourage young people into sport, and my hope is that it will give the young people and others in the Washington Valley area an easy place to go and kick a ball around.”
After council installed the goals last month, Jamison and Cooper were the first ones to put a ball in the back of the net, and the local football community followed.
One goal scored by the Watsons, and many more to come!
