AIMS Games: Record number of schools register as nearly 12,000 athletes set to compete

The crowd at the AIMS Games opening ceremony in Tauranga last year. Photo / Talia Parker

Nearly 12,000 competitors are set to take part in this year’s AIMS Games, which organisers say is destined to be a record-breaker.

The Zespri AIMS Games will take place from September 2 to 8 across a range of venues in the Western Bay of Plenty.

When entries closed on Wednesday, 11,733 athletes from 373 schools had registered. In 2019, 361 schools and 11,400 athletes entered.

Tournament director Kelly Schischka said organisers was “delighted” that “so many impressionable rangitahi” [children] would be able to create lifelong memories at the tournament.

“This time last week, things were relatively mellow but schools used every second of the 11.59pm deadline on Wednesday and our entrants have just exploded,” Schischka said in the statement.

The tournament had rebounded to pre-Covid levels, and beyond.

The tournament had also attracted international competitors for the first time since 2019, with two badminton players from Saint Peter Chanel Community Primary School in Samoa joining tennis and badminton players from the Cook Islands, as well as a rugby sevens team from Gospel Primary in Fiji.

The 2019 tournament drew more than 25,000 athletes, supporters and officials to Tauranga, injecting nearly $6.5 million into regional coffers and contributing 74,787 visitor nights over the week.

This year’s tournament had “record” entries, with basketball in particular “exploding” - 1583 players are registered, including 155 playing the 3x3 version.

There were 1832 players across football and futsal, 1248 hockey players and a “massive” increase in mountain biking entries, up to 468.

For the first time, Rip Rugby entries (588 players) have overtaken boys’ rugby sevens (540), with 1272 players across all grades, while the netball courts will again be heaving, with 1740 players registered.

The tournament is in its 20th year, after starting with 750 competitors in 2004. This year will be the 18th edition after the tournament was cancelled twice due to Covid-19.