Thirty-eight Waihi College students headed to Tauranga on September 2-8 to participate in the Zespri AIMS Games, with the students returning tired but happy at the end of the event.
The year seven and eight students were selected to compete in a number of sports, including netball, basketball, rugby sevens, mountain biking and gymnastics.
Year seven student Breeze Clothier did particularly well at the games. She competed against 91 other students to come out 5th overall in the twisters gymnastics event, with a total score of 28.50 across three categories – the floor, the vault and the beam.
The students said they were all pretty worn out at the end of the week, with some codes playing up to three games a day. Although the competition was tough, they all gave it their best shot, with the younger students saying they were looking forward to attending again next year.
The AIMS Games is one of Australasia’s largest junior sporting events and sees schools from across NZ competing in sporting competitions. The event promotes diversity and allows adolescents from all demographics and education contexts to compete, meet others from outside their normal peer group, and learn and build on their social interaction skills. The 2023 games saw 11,733 competitors from 374 schools, competing in 25 different sporting codes.
By ALICE PARMINTER, Public Interest Journalism funded by NZ on Air
