Year eight Stawell Secondary student Taya Chisholm has expressed a gesture of generosity beyond her years, making a special donation to Stawell Primary School.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 13-year-old up and coming basketballer was hand-picked to be given 10 basketballs to donate to a school of her choice as part of an academy she belongs to. She chose her old primary school.
Stawell Primary School teacher and former mentor of Taya’s Toni Stewart said the donation meant a lot to the school.
“It adds to the equipment and resources we always need,” she said.
“She is a gorgeous girl and was a lovely student. To have a girl come back a few years later is a lovely gesture.”
Chisholm has made great in-roads as a junior basketballer, taking her talents to Ballarat to progress her development.
She has been part of Ballarat’s junior elite team and through that path has been invited to try out for multiple academies, eventually being selected in the Central Basketball Academy.
It is through this program that Taya was given the basketballs to donate.
Taya’s mother Janelle Chisholm said Taya made her mind up quickly who to donate to.
“She loved her time at Stawell Primary so it was an easy decision for her,” she said.
Taya and her family have dedicated a significant amount to her young basketball career, travelling back and forth from Ballarat four to five times a week to compete and train as part of a variety of different teams and programs.
Chisholm said her daughter has shown great dedication to the sport.
“She just loves it so much and it is great to see all of the opportunities she has taken,” she said.
Taya will have a chance to be selected to try out at the Gold Nugget camp through her participation in the central academy.
The Gold Nugget camp is a pathway for young basketballers to be selected for the Australian Country Junior Basketball Cup and the Southern Cross Basketball Challenge, two of Australia’s biggest junior competitions.
“She has shown a lot of commitment,” Stewart said.
“Taya is a great example to anyone of if you really want something taking the effort to chase it.
“It is also a credit to her Mum for helping her get to all of these different places.”
Note: In Friday’s edition of The Stawell Times-News, Taya and Janelle’s surname was incorrectly listed as Chalmers instead of Chisholm.
