Close on 70 pupils from Bournside School will be embarking on a tour of a lifetime next year.

Sixty-seven youngsters and eight staff from the Cheltenham School will be part of a dual sports tour to Canada in July.

The party, made up of two rugby teams and three netball teams, will head for Toronto on 18th July before returning home eight days later.

The two boys teams are under-14 and under-15 while the three girls teams range from under-14s to under-16s.

“The boys will play two rugby matches – against Niagara Rugby Club and an Ontario representative XV,” said Gareth Taylor, head of PE at Bournside. “The girls will play three netball matches in Toronto and will be more tournament based.”

The netball section is headed up by Rebecca Stickland, whose husband James used to play rugby for Old Patesians, and while the sport is obviously a key part of the trip, there is much more to the tour.

“It will begin in Toronto and will take in Niagara Falls and the surrounding area,” added Taylor. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for the pupils.”

It is the first overseas sports tour that the school have organised since 2001.

“To have a dual gender sports tour makes it that bit more special, we’re absolutely chuffed,” continued Taylor. “It shows where sport is in the school and how highly the kids regard it.”

Taylor said that they would have needed a minimum of 40 pupils to make the tour viable so he is delighted that so many have taken the opportunity to be involved.

“It keeps the kids interested in sport,” added Taylor. “We play a lot of fixtures during the school year and a tour like this creates a real team ethos.

“The pupils who are on the trip will still be at the school when we come back and they can pass on their experiences to the Year 7s and 8s.

“If the kids know how seriously we take sport, then they’ll take it seriously too. Ultimately we want them all to be playing sport in 10 years’ time.”

Taylor, a former rugby player at Moseley, joined the school in the late noughties and is proud of the fact that as well as rugby and netball, the school is also strong at football, hockey and cricket to name just three other sports.

The trip to Canada will cost £1,695 per pupil but it’s hoped that a sustained period of fundraising will substantially reduce the amount each family must pay.

“We’ve already had a quiz night which 140 people attended,” said Taylor. “We’ve got a sponsored bag pack at Morrisons in Hatherley on 15th December and sponsored indoor rowing event at Regent Arcade, also in Cheltenham, on 2nd March.

“We are looking to reach out to local companies and businesses who might be interested in sponsoring our tour playing kit and also looking to advertise our fundraising events.”

Anyone interested in supporting the tour should contact Gareth Taylor on 01242 229518 or email glt@bournside.gloucs.sch.uk