Event plan for parents at Good Shepherd School in Auckland New Zealand. The event is the Holey Fathers Hot House Challenge, a waterlogged fun run for kids to be held on Saturday 23rd of March 2013.

1. 2013 Event
Planner
Dads you must be at the
school by MIDDAY on
Saturday 23rd March 2013

2. It’s on 2pm Saturday 31 March
Thanks to Mike DeYoung for his awesome artwork
again this year
We’re sending it to all parents with this email
Dear Parents & Friends of Good Shepherd
Please make sure you’ve got 2pm Saturday 23rd March in your
diaries to bring the kids to school for the 5th Annual Hot House
Challenge event. This fun run around the school is brought to you
by the Holey Fathers, the social club for dads of Good Shepherd
School kids. The event has never been so popular, so if you've never
taken part before, this is the year to give it a go!
What’s it all about? Our kids race around the school on a special
course dotted with fun obstacles and challenges, getting drenched
and earning points for their house . Who’ll take the Hot House
Challenge trophy off the 2012 champions, yellow house COWLEY?
This is not a fundraising event. It’s just a great fun day out for all kids
at Good Shepherd, run by their dads and enjoyed by their families.
Back by popular demand will be the giant inflatable water slide from
last year. Plus there will be music, sausage sizzle and drinks
available plus some cool prizes for the race winners. Please feel free
to bring a picnic, your own refreshments and don’t forget your water
pistols (and a spare t-shirt for the kids)! There are 3 exciting races:
junior, middle and senior. Plus, a not so serious race for parents and
older siblings too. It’s going ahead rain or shine, so make sure your
family is part of the fun.
And finally, dads, if you’re keen on helping out, or being part of the
Holey Fathers in 2013, just drop an email Paul Hickey on

3. We’re keeping last year’s hugely
popular feature
An awesome 20m long inflatable water slide
It will be the final station of the race, right
before the finish line, so each kid gets to finish
on a high (and mum gets a good photo opp)
Thanks to the PTFA for hiring
it for us.

4. Here’s the aerial view of this year’s course
2
Top Playground
7 Obstacle Course
Water
Gauntlet
8 Tyre
Alley Tennis Court
Balance Beam Course
New water
cannon
obstacle
5 Rugby
Challenge
4
6
Adventure
Playground

5. Hot House Challenge Course Map 2013
At Good Shepherd School grounds - Saturday 23rd March 2013 from 2pm
Swimming
Library Rooms Pool Parish Meeting
3&4 Rooms
Rooms
1&2
7 Run ! 2
Water
Get Ambush
wet !
School Balance
Beams!
MILO Hall
8 NEW WATER
TENT Parish
TYRE CANNON
ALLEY Church OBSTACLE
Rooms
Get wet !
5, 6, 7 GO !
&8 Netball Courts
DIVING RUGBY TRY
START Run !
FINISH 5
Yay! Score a try!
Get wet !
Administration Block Run ! 4
Run ! SCORERS
Priest’s
House
Room 9
6 2.00pm Race registration & House team cheers
2.30pm Middle School Race (Years 1 & 2)
Race
Climb &
slide Adventure 3.00pm Junior School Race (Years 3 & 4)
Playground 3.30pm Senior School Race (Years 5 & 6)
Schedule 4.00pm Parents & Siblings Race (unofficial)
4.30pm Prize Giving and Sausage Sizzle

6. We’ve simplified the scoring this year
This year we’ve scrapped giving out points at the various stations around the course. It seems black
markers and water don’t mix. So now all the scoring happens after the kids cross the finish line.
Finishing = 1 house point
1. Every kid gets a coloured wristband
before the race to match their house.
2. Each kid shows their wristband to the
scorers after they finish the race
3. The scorers cut off the wristbands and
award a house point for finishing
UNLESS .... The kid is one of the top finishers in the race, in which case there are extra bonus points ....

7. Top 5 finishing boys and girls score extra
We simply cut up 10 bits of wood and mark them up like below. We hand them to the leading kids
as they cross the finish line. The kids take them to the scorers who record the extra bonus points
ON TOP of the single point they earn for their coloured wrist band.

8. Prizes for the kids
Again this is much simpler in 2013. No more scrounging for lots of individual prizes for kids that
they don’t really care that much about anyway. Here’s how it will work this year.
Mini trophies and medals for race winners An individual lolly bag for each member
Winning boy and girl in each race get an engraved mini of the winning house team
trophy. 2nd and 3rd place getters earn an engraved medal. There could be 40-odd kids in the winning house, and
each one will get a small bag of lollies each. They
That’s 6 trophy and medal earners per race and there are queue up and we hand them out.
three races so that’s 18 winners in total.
And a lolly scramble for the other kids!
While the winning house kids are queuing up, we’ll
toss lots of loose lollies to the rest of the kids.

9. What’s your job at the Hot House Challenge?
We’ve put you on a team
with a couple of other dads
Take note of your job on the next slide and then refer to the
slide coming up that describes your station and what’s
required.
We need you there at MIDDAY at the latest.
Please don’t be late.

11. Start/Finish Line
What’s the idea?
We borrow the PTFA’s string of coloured flags and run them up high Dads on Duty:
along the top of a few tent poles and secure them with tent pegs or Mike DeYoung Mob 021901320
something. So it looks like a proper start/finish line. This is where all Mark Wood Mob 021834346
the kids and parents will congregate, so we need to leave a bit of
decent gap between it and the classrooms.
House Points on offer:
At the start we line all the kids up here, and check they’ve all got on 1 point for finishing, plus up to 5 bonus
their coloured wristbands, so they can score a point at the end. At the points for a top 5 finish (boys and girls)
end, we hand out the blocks of wood to the top finishers.
And most importantly, direct every finishing kid to the scorers’ table.
Tell the kids to do what?
Follow the cones around the course, and have fun!
Then walk over to the scorers to swap your coloured wrist
band for a house point. Plus bonus points for a top 5 finish.
Equipment Required:
String of flags (from PTFA shed)
Poles and pegs to mount flags (from Paul Holmes)
Starter’s air horn (from Rob Peeters)
Individual kids wrist band Scorers
Top finishers bits of wood

12. Roving Course Marshall
What’s the idea?
Tyrone Hale is our Roving Course Marshall. His job is to look after the Dads on Duty:
overall course between the other eight stations and take care of some Tyrone Hale Mob 0274593411
logistical stuff with Sharon the school caretaker before the race, like + other helpers before the races start
access to classrooms, gates, locks, etc. He’ll also be supplying the tyres
we need for the Tyre Alley and Station 1 and setting up the tarp crawl by
the school hall. Tyrone’s going to be very useful on the new Water
Cannon station 3 as well.
He may recruit other dads to mark out the course with the school’s set
of cones and check it’s done right. During the race, he can rove all over
Looks after the
the course, directing kids where to run, helping out where he’s needed. tarps and tyres
Tell the kids to do what?
Crawl under the first tarp after the start line
Step through the tyre alley carefully
And generally “run this way” when it’s needed
Equipment Required:
Tarps & tent pegs (from Paul Holmes & Wayne Stachurski)
Lots of used tyres (from Tyrone Hale)
Set of cones to mark out the course (from school)
Laminated course maps

13. Station 1 - Walk the planks
What’s the idea?
We set up a series of slightly raised planks that kids have to walk along Dads on Duty:
(connected by tyres) in order to get to the gate and continue on to the Richard Clement Mob 021 1568 472
next station. But they have to choose one of two routes without Ant Saunders Mob 029 8159590
knowing which one is faster. Dads on this station, you get to design the Eddie Sella Mob 021 634300
alternate routes on the day, once you see how many planks you’ve got. Sam Irvine Mob 027 251 5200
It’s the first station and the kids will arrive through the end gate in a big
swarm. But they are thinned out a bit thanks to the earlier tarps & tyres.
Tell the kids to do what?
Choose left or right then“Walk the planks” all the way to the far gate.
They are not allowed to touch the ground, or cut corners, or they
have to go back to the start again.
Equipment Required:
Route 1
Lots of planks (from lots of dads)
Lots of bricks to raise the planks (from lots of dads)
A tyres between each plank join (Tyrone Hale)
Route 2

14. Station 2 - Top Playground Obstacle
What’s the idea?
The planks on station 1 will thin the kids out further before they arrive at Dads on Duty:
the “up top” playground. We want the kids to run right to the far end of Rob Peeters Mob 021 1821549
the playground before entering it. Giving them a couple of tackle bags to Mike Tibbles Mob 027 696 5546
jump first helps get them to the right end. Then we make use of the Mike Mirfin Mob 021 292 8910
existing obstacles, sending them through the playground from one end to
the other.
.
Tell the kids to do what?
Jump the tackle bags. Then run/climb through one lane of the playground,
climbing to a high point at the end before sliding down the pole to complete the
station. Then run up the hill towards the big slippery slide.
Equipment Required:
Tackle Bags (from Matt McHardy)

15. Station 3 - New Water Cannon
What’s the idea? Dads on Duty:
Time for the kids to start getting wet. This is a new station and will Kim Van Nes Mob 022 0431367
require some ingenuity and planning to figure out how to do this. Aaron Delacey Mob 029 222 0732
Matt Hanrahan Mob 027 589 8822
The idea is that we set up wheelie bin or barrel of water on high
ground, with an electric water pump and nozzle to spray kids with a
Own Doran Mob 0212 472 624
high pressure burst as they climb up the little hill to the carpark. Run water and power from outside
meeting rooms. Need power too!
Tell the kids to do what?
Run to the slippery slide behind the priests house. That means
running right past the water cannon of course.
Equipment Required:
Water barrel or wheelie bin (James Flexman)
Hoses and water pump (Wayne Stachurski)
High pressure spray nozzle (and stand?)
Extension cords to power pump. (ask Tyrone about power access)
Ask for help from
Tyrone Hale Mob 0274593411 Kim, suggest your team be
Wayne Stachurski Mob 0274 916 352 the guys who park their car
here to block off the area
Wayne has offered to supply barrels, water pump
you need for your station.
and fittings. Call him on the farm in Ngatea

16. Station 4 - Billboard Water Slide
What’s the idea?
A cool downhill slippery slide. Phil Clemas provides two of his firm’s Dads on Duty:
huge 12m outdoor advertising skins and we turn them into a fantastic Pete Lord Mob 021 915 141
24m water slide down the grassy slope behind the priest’s house. Phil Howard Mob 021 975 166
Marty Van Aken Mob 0211 283 478
The trickiest part of this station is keeping the slide wet and slippery.
There’s a hose out the back of the priest’s house but needs
permission to use it. We’ll ask in advance but suggest you knock on
his door as soon as you arrive and confirm it’s still OK.
Phil Clemas can’t be at the event this year, but Pete Lord had this
sussed last year, so I’m sure they will again this year.
Tell the kids to do what?
Get a bloody great big run-up and launch yourself!
When you get to the bottom, start running back toward the
main school field and Station 5, the Rugby Challenge
Equipment Required:
Bloody enormous billboard skins (from Phil Clemas)
Water (from Priest’s house?)
Bring a hose.
Soapy stuff for slide (from Pete Lord)
Needs a dad at the bottom of slide directing kids to run in the right direction next

17. Station 5 - Diving Rugby Try
What’s the idea?
Get the kids to score an awesome diving sliding try underneath the Dads on Duty:
goal posts. This station is assembled from the rugby gear Matt Joe Tooman Mob 0276126720
McHardy borrows from the Auckland Rugby Union, including a big Tony Kelly Mob 021921887
inflatable cushion for the kids to land on. Add a hose to make a sliding Basil Fernandez Mob 027 633 4054
try possible and we’re away. Matt can’t be at the event this year, but
will still get us the gear. Tackle bags, rugby balls, goalposts, the works.
Joe Tooman and Tony Kelly handled this well last year, but they could
do with a couple of extra dads helping we think.
Tell the kids to do what?
Catch the ball (passed to them by the dads) and score a big
spectacular diving try under the goal posts. Then get off and
head off to the adventure playground for station 7.
Equipment Required:
Rugby balls & equipment (from Matt McHardy and ARU)
Hose connected to tap outside admin block.

18. Station 6 - Adventure Playground
What’s the idea?
Again we’re making use of the existing playground equipment, which Dads on Duty:
the kids are all very familiar with. By now the kids will be pretty tired Pete Barnao Mob 022 019 2386
and they should be well spaced out, which means we’re going to keep Kevin Murphy Mob 021 0292 4218
it simple.
All we want the kids to do it run around the big tree (with the new
wooden bench seat around it) then climb up the tower and slide down
the slide.
BUT if you guys can add to this station or somehow improve it, then
please go ahead. Want to make the seniors go along the monkey bars
too?
Tell the kids to do what?
Run around the big tree then climb up and slide down the slide.
Then run down the back of the classrooms towards Station 7.
Equipment Required:
None unless you think of something to add.

19. Station 7 - The Water Gauntlet!
What’s the idea?
The idea here is to assemble every possible way to get each kid soaked Dads on Duty:
as they run through the gap between the classroom blocks. Hoses, Kane Dickie Mob 021630573
sprinklers and fittings are required to set up the ambush. Wayne Stephen Farrell Mob 0275737689
Stachurski is also pr0viding some big barrels which should be filled with Patrick Jansen Mob 021 082 4819
water to make ideal water pistol filling stations. We need to recruit the
kids who aren’t running that particular race to “arm themselves” with
And can’t attend but supplying stuff
additional water firepower.
Wayne Stachurski Mob 0274 916 352
There’s a house outlet there right outside the kids toilets, plus there’s
another one outside rooms 3 & 4. We need to get the tap handles off
Sharon the school groundskeeper.
Tell the kids to do what?
Run through the ambush towards the finish line, and expect to
get a good soaking (keep it friendly though)
Then head towards our big new Crazy Cruiser slide at Station 8.
Equipment Required:
Hoses, sprinklers and fittings for tap Water Barrels (Wayne
Stachurski)
Water pistols (preferably big soakers)

20. Station 8 - Crazy Cruiser Slide
What’s the idea?
Add a bit of theatre to the final act of the race with a spectacular water Dads on Duty:
slide down to the finish line. James Flexman Mob 0275 450 191
John Vaipuna Mob 02102248780
The slide itself will be set up by the company we’re hiring it from, and it Nick Booy Mob 021 991 176
requires both electricity and a water supply, both of which we’ll get from
the main classroom block (rooms 5 – 8).
Once it’s set up it we don’t need anybody to operate it. But two dads are
needed just to help kids climb up onto it and for a bit of crowd control –
keeping other kids off it during the race.
Tell the kids to do what?
Play on the slide between races, lining up in an orderly fasion.
But during the race it’s closed to everyone except the race
competitors
Equipment Required:
All supplied by slide company

21. Station 9 - Barbeque
What’s the idea?
This year we’re in charge of the barbecue at the Hot House Challenge, Dads on Duty:
including supplying the sausages, bread, sauces, napkins, everything. So Danny Trainor Mob 021 811 504
it’s worthy of being a station in itself. Chris Jeffery Mob 021 449 549
Joshua Jeffery (Chris’s son)
The school has two BBQs and we need to ensure the gas bottles are full Steve Simpson Mob ???
before we start. Bring your own BBQ implements
Sausages are free, but we are selling drinks
This is to close our budget gap a bit.
Soft drink cans will be $2 each
Juice cartons will be $1 each
Equipment Required:
Your own BBQ implements
Ice and bins for cold drinks
All consumables supplied by Holey Fathers on the day

22. Our event budget
Budget? Yes budget!
This year the PTFA has granted us an overall event budget of $600. This is how it’s looking right now.

23. Other jobs on the day
Music
This year our DJ will be Mr Fish’s daugher Lexi Hickey. Using her iPod and sound gear
supplied by Kane Dickie.
Scorers x 4
We need four official scorers to record and add up all the kids house points. We’ve had
the mums do this for the last two years, but anyone can do it really. You just don’t get to
add up the points for your own family’s school house. Who’s wives are keen?
Finish line wranglers
We usually get a few PTFA or mum helpers get the kids under control on the start/finish
line and help identify the top place-getters. Volunteers are welcome.
Prize givers
Someone to help Mr Fish give out the prizes at the end and toss a few lollies into the
swarm of kids.
Coffee Guy
We need to arrange a coffee van to turn up

24. Stuff we also need from the school
Laminated course maps
We supply the A3 maps (Mr Fish) a couple of days before the race and they laminate them
Access to tennis courts
We need Sharon to make sure both gates to the tennis courts are unlocked for the race
Unlock big gates next to sandpit
We have to make sure kids have a clear run between stations 4 and 5 and not have to go through the little gate.
Access to water taps and electricity
We need Sharon to provide the handles that let us operate all the water taps around the main field. Plus keys to
open a classroom for power for the slide.
Sports gear
We need access to the plastic cones for marking the course.
PTFA Shed
We need access to the shed to get the flags for the start/finish line.
Barbecues
We need access to at least one and possibly two barbecues for the event. With full gas bottles too.

25. After event drinks
Bring a few beers for after the races
If each team (ie each station) brings a six pack or
a dozen then all we’ll need is a tub and some ice.
Leave your beers in the car and we’ll send a
volunteer up to the gas station at the last minute
to grab a few bags of ice.
Does anybody have a tub or a kids paddling pool
we can put the ice into? Bring it along.

26. Remember, be there by midday.
Saturday 23rd March 2013.