"The dad of the kids coming from Indonesia was a former teacher and First XV coach at Tauranga Boys' College, Inga Tamou. He is a teacher at the Australian Independent School in Jakarta," Semple said.
"So they are Kiwi kids coming from Jakarta because their mum and dad didn't want them to miss the experience."
Semple is delighted to have para sport involved for the first time.
"We have been working with Paralympics New Zealand and Halbergs and have introduced swimming and para 800m. We have been looking to do it for a long time and we really wanted to do it well," she said.
"It is really important for kids with disabilities to know there is a pathway for them and also to compete alongside their peers. I am so excited about it. I think it is going to be an amazing addition to the AIMS Games."
To cater to the massive numbers there will be two opening ceremonies next Sunday - another first for the AIMS Games.
"We sold out last year in a couple of minutes and we didn't want anyone to miss out so we are holding two. One is at 3 o'clock and the other one is at 7 o'clock, which will have live streaming," Semple said.
"We have Paralympic swimmer Mary Fisher as our guest speaker at the opening ceremony and she is really inspirational."
Semple says they are getting more and more creative every year with how to accommodate everyone.
"I do have a lot of people offering up private homes to rent so we do definitely have enough accommodation for people to stay.
"But with our venues now some of them are getting really tight. For example, we have got three hockey venues with the turf at the Tauranga Hockey centre plus we are having to use Tauranga Boys' College and Bethlehem College.
"Netball teams have gone up to 122, basketball went up by 25 teams and futsal numbers have nearly doubled. We really do rely heavily on Tauranga City Council, who are amazing, to get the field space and all that sorted out for us."
Semple is confident Baywave will be available in time for the large swimming and water polo programmes after closing last week for emergency safety work.
"I have had feedback from Bay Venues that work is progressing well and they will be open for the event, which is really promising, but we do have a contingency plan just in case."
