The Suns initiative to build a new multicourt sports arena at Knole Academy requires your help! Please read the letter from our Suns Chair Richard Surrey and get in touch today!
Dear Suns Family, I hope everyone had a happy holiday season and is as excited about getting back to the basketball season as we are. As some of you may recall from our season opening event, the Suns are pursuing a major project to build a new multicourt sports arena at Knole Academy. The arena will be the foundation for a basketball academy which the Suns and Knole Academy will jointly run. Also, the arena will be a youth sports centre for local kids during after-school and weekend hours. We are so excited about this project, because it will do so much for so many parts of the Sevenoaks community. For the Suns, it will allow us to greatly expand our Development offerings and, so, reach many more kids. Through the Academy, we will be able to offer elite training for those who seek it. By having a venue which is a centre of Suns’ activities, we will be able to maintain a unified club culture and a development pathway which is much more visible and real for the kids. The arena will be a great benefit to Knole Academy. During the school day, the existing sports hall (which is lovely and my favorite to coach at) is heavily used and unable to support additional sport offerings. This limits the school’s efforts to improve student fitness in the short-term and to get kids to embrace an active life as a long-term lifestyle. An arena with three or more courts which are available to the school during school hours would radically transform this situation and allow the school to greatly enhance the health and fitness of its students. We believe there are great community benefits to having a youth facility which is freely available to kids during after-school and weekend hours. It is important to give kids alternatives to hanging around street corners and coffee shops or becoming glued to a computer screens. So, we plan that the arena would be operated as a community youth centre during after-school hours, weekend mornings and during school breaks. We will seek to make the facility available to kids free of charge or for an absolute minimal amount. Lastly, the show court at the arena would include space for seating up to 500 spectators. Thus, the arena would be a performance venue for local sports teams, dance groups and theatre troops. It would also be an ideal facility for hosting sports tournaments and events, including international youth events. Our Facilties Committee (Phil Webb and Rick Boomgaardt) have gone through a pre-planning consultation and now are about to submit a formal planning application. While this dynamic duo has been able to propel the project forward to this point, they now need your help. During my remarks at our opening event, I mentioned that we could not bring this project to fruition without the active support of our parents. I said that we would come to you for help in several specific areas. Well, now is the time. We are calling for volunteers to help us in the following areas: 1. FACILITIES COMMITTEE: Phil and Rick now need your help. No special skills are required – just enthusiasm. Having said that, we would love the help of anybody with experience relevant to construction projects, including, planning, architecture or construction. Anyone interested in learning more about this important project should contact Phil at facilities@sevenoakssuns.com. 2. FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE: From time-to-time, Rick and Phil take off their hard hats and donned white-shoes and spats to go out fundraising. While they have done admirably, the demands of the arena project will mean that we will need to form a new fundraising committee. We need your help. Again, no experience required – only enthusiasm. Those interested in helping out should contact Rick at funds@sevenoakssuns.com. 3. EVENTS COMMITTEE: Events are so central to any organization. Whether opening and closing events or quiz nights or Christmas parties, they bring us together and help to sustain our community. Over the years, Carlos Henry has provided much leadership in organizing events for the club. This past year, Emma Gray did a wonderful job in organizing our opening assembly. However, we have reached (some would say passed) the stage where we need a permanent committee to plan and organize club events. Those interested in helping should contact Emma at events@sevenoakssuns.com. I expect the committee will continue to benefit from the enthusiasm of Carlos. The Suns have an illustrious record of achievement in youth and women’s sport. We have the ability to do so much more. And what we do will benefit the Sevenoaks and West Kent area as a whole – not just the basketball community. However, we can achieve none of our goals without the support of our parents. I know I can count on each of you to find a way in which you are comfortable helping us to help your kids -- and kids all around the area. Best wishes for a happy and successful new year, Richard Surrey Chair