Dame Susan Devoy: Iconic event Aims high

There are only a few events here in Tauranga that I would consider worthy of being called iconic. The Tauranga Jazz festival, which will celebrate its 50th birthday next year, and the Port of Tauranga Half Ironman are a couple but tomorrow an event will start that is certainly now a major event on our local calendar.

Not everyone will be aware of the NZCT Aims Games but if you are between the ages of 11 and 13 and mad keen on sport then undoubtedly this sporting week will be the highlight of your school year. I feel rather chuffed to have been involved in the genesis of this magnificent event.

Eight years ago when employed at Sport Bay of Plenty the three local intermediate principals proposed the idea of a tournament aimed solely at Year 7 and 8 children.

For those who know Brian Diver, the principal of Tauranga Intermediate, you would appreciate that when Mr Diver gets an idea, he will move heaven and earth to make sure it happens and God help anyone in his way.

So from tomorrow we will be praying the weather forecast is kind as 4600 pre-adolescents will compete in 15 different sports at different venues across the city. They will be accompanied by 900 officials, coaches, managers and officials not to mention all the excited and sometimes over-anxious mums and dads.

I have fond memories of Aims from the early beginnings. In the very first Aims my son, now 18, ran his heart out for silver in the cross country. I kid you not, he lost to a boy from Hamilton whose real name is Muhammad Ali. His parents were refugees from Djibouti.

Muhammad and my son have gone on to enjoy a real athletic rivalry, which started up the hills at Waipuna Park.

Because this is not just about participation this is about winning medals and for some this is really the first sporting competition these young boys and girls have participated in outside their region. It is an age when kids are caught between childhood and becoming a teenager, plenty of raging hormones. So over the week you will see plenty of tears, the odd tantrum and millions of magical moments. For many, winning is everything, while others are happy to be good enough to get selected and some just over the moon to have a week off school.

Last year I spoke to a young man who had never seen the ocean.

This tournament attracts schools from all over New Zealand. This year there are some heart-warming stories from Christchurch. Despite all that has happened in the last year schools that don't even have sports facilities are still making the journey north.

The best private schools compete against the lowest decile schools emphasising the importance of sport in our young people's lives and the bringing together of children from all different walks of life.

This will be my last Aims as my youngest heads off to college. I take my hat off to Vicki Semple the Sport BOP primary schools co-ordinator and Mr Diver and the entire team who make this happen ... a little birdie told me there might be an international flavour next year.

This has been a remarkable success story, from very small beginnings to an event that the city can be proud of and all children aspire to be part of.

Who could ever forget the first prizegiving. The trophies were locked in the back of Mr Diver's car, the only problem being that Mr Diver had forgotten that.

It would never happen now. The Aims is a well-oiled machine.