Taieri College rugby player Fergus Clark poured months of hard work into building his school a new scoreboard just in time for it to be used in his last home game. But for Fergus, the project was never for himself — it was about building a future for the community. “We’re hoping it’s a good asset to the school that all the rugby teams will be able to use for many years to come.” Fergus had been planning and creating the scoreboard in his spare time for months. The first step was to create solid and detailed plans, then with some helpers, he put it all together. “We’ve been building it since about May . . . lots of people helped along the way, it wasn’t just me. “Our level 3 and 2 wood rooms helped a lot and so did my woodwork teacher Mr Jones.’’ ©Allied MediaTaieri College head boy Fergus Clark, 18, next to the scoreboard he built for the school to use during rugby matches. Photo: Peter McIntosh Fergus said his First XV teammates had been asking him for quite a while when they would be able to use it. Finally, during the teams second-to-last game of the season, it was finished and they could use it. “I got to run up and put the first number on after our first try — it was quite special.” The team were playing Mount Aspiring College during the Southern Schools Rugby Championship division 4 semifinal. Taieri won 38-7 and they would be heading down to Gore this Saturday for the final. That meant last week was likely his last home game. “It was really cool just to be able to look over and think about how a lot of hard work from everyone has earned that for the community and the school. “I think the team was just stoked that we managed to get some use out of it before we finish up for the year.” The project would not have been possible if the First XV team in 2020 had not had their tournament cancelled due to Covid-19. Fergus said while the players got their money back, there was still a pool of leftover fundraising money which had always been ear-marked for a rugby-based project. “So we’ve been able to use some of that money, which they’ve earned, and been able to put this together . . . massive thanks to those guys.” Next year, Fergus hoped to put his building skills to use by studying civil engineering at the University of Canterbury. “A bunch of good skills that it’s taught me, doing this . . . so I’ll probably be sticking to that more practical thinking, putting stuff together-wise.” laine.priestley@odt.co.nz
