AIMS Games: Humble Auckland hip hop crew leaves Tauranga with trophy

Somerville Intermediate School are the AIMS hip hop champions. Photo / Samantha Motion

Tauranga's biggest intermediate-aged sports tournament has opened the eyes of an Auckland hip hop crew who have left town with the trophy.

Dancers from Somerville Intermediate School won gold while in Tauranga for the 16th annual AIMS Games.

Team manager and school teacher Destiny Anderson said the crew had been to AIMS Games before but had never placed.

"They are very grateful," she said. "They were really excited."

Anderson said the crew was grateful to have had the opportunity to perform in front of such a large group of dancers from across the country.

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"They learnt a lot from meeting and observing the other teams," she said.

"Two of our girls have never done anything like this before, so it was such a unique experience for them."

The proud teacher said many children did not have the opportunity to dance outside school for a number of reasons.

"Not all parents can afford dance lessons," she said.

The AIMS Games gave dancers the opportunity to excel on and off the stage, Anderson said.

"They get to perform in a public setting with such a big audience from all over New Zealand," she said.

"They get to see what dancers are doing all over the country and the bar is raised every year."

Anderson said the dancers were a true reflection of the school's motto, which was to be the best you can be.

"They walked away knowing they gave it absolutely everything," she said. "That was the most important thing regardless of whether they placed or not."

The school's hip hop routine was choreographed by former Mount Maunganui College student Cameron Smith, 21.

Dancer Holly Welham, 11, said winning was "the best thing ever."

"We felt really proud of ourselves," she said.

"But we need to be humble," said Eric Zhu, 11 – the only boy on the team.

"We want to respect other teams and show our sportsmanship," Charlotte Redford, 12, said.

The win was the perfect birthday gift for Sienna Walmsley, who turned 12 the day of the competition: "Well done to all the other teams they did their best."

Hazel Havea, 11, said the team put in many hours of training and gave up lots of lunchtimes, especially in the past two or three weeks.

"All our hard work paid off."

Julie Lu, 12 said the soldier-like routine was "really unique".