Helping St Andrew’s College students to become ‘better tomorrow than they were today’ in their various sporting and cultural pursuits is a key focus of new Director of Sport and Co-Curricular Activities, Mark Lane. “There are lots of important life learnings when students get together in teams or groups and strive Helping St Andrew’s College students to become ‘better tomorrow than they were today’ in their various sporting and cultural pursuits is a key focus of new Director of Sport and Co-Curricular Activities, Mark Lane. “There are lots of important life learnings when students get together in teams or groups and strive for a common goal. If they can walk off the field or stage knowing that they have all tried hard and given 100 per cent, that is a culture people want to be part of.”

Sport is Mark’s passion. He is a former professional cricketer, having played for Wellington, Central Districts, Canterbury, and the New Zealand U20 side. He was also in the New Zealand Junior hockey team. For 12 years, Mark was employed by New Zealand Cricket in various roles, including a five-year stint as General Manager of Community Cricket. Although Mark’s new role is focused on sport and culture, he also has a strong academic background – coming to St Andrew’s College from Christchurch Boys’ High School, where he had taught Mathematics since 2014. Mark was also highly engaged in the school’s sports programme, serving as coach of both its First XI cricket and First XI hockey teams.

He is excited by the ‘fantastic challenge’ as the new Director of Sport and Co-curricular Activities at St Andrew’s, and has been impressed by the ‘supportive, positive, forward-thinking’ culture at the College. Most of his Saturdays have been taken up with visits to sports sidelines, team trials, or watching various other cultural or co-curricular activities. “It’s been great to meet lots of people in the parent community, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the engagement of students across many different activities.”

Maintaining the important sporting and cultural traditions at St Andrew’s College is another key focus for Mark. “It all comes down to values and helping our students to understand that taking part in sport and cultural activities is a privilege and not a right. It’s important to keep our expectations high of young people when they represent the College, so they do it in the best way possible, both on and off the field.”