Will Johnston in Fiji. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services
Will Johnston in Fiji. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services
Remember that time you went to Fiji to work for two days and then flew home again? No? Neither did I until last week!
The AIMS Games is a massive sporting championship for 11 to 13-year-old competitors, 11,500 of them in fact. Yes that is bigger than the Olympics!
There's 23 sports, there's a para-sport class, and there's even two identical opening ceremonies because there isn't a venue big enough in Tauranga to fit everyone in. There's even now an AIMS Games App (Apple and android, go download it).
So it's only natural that other countries want to be involved in this colossus of a good time for all.
Gospel Primary School in Suva, Fiji, is the first Fijian school to ever take part in the games.
The legends in Fiji were plentiful. From the welcome we received when we arrived at the school — a full school assembly, much singing, lots of lunches put on by the families of the 7s players and even our own salusalu (like a Fijian lei)!
Suva has close to 100,000 people. So you have to be competitive if you want to make any sort of 7s team there.
These boys are some of the fittest kids I've ever seen. They trained in the afternoon and then again the next morning at 7am. If you know a Kiwi team heading to AIMS to play 7s, you might want to tell them to go for a run!
Despite the beautiful weather and warm water, the best thing for me about Fiji was the kids!
Not just the talented members of the team. Their younger siblings and all of the littlies at that school. They came up and chatted, the chucked a ball around and they were always keen to have a laugh.
That's a great testament to what the AIMS Games is all about and what it means to people who take part? Fun, in its purest and most competitive form.
I can't wait to see the Fijians here come September.
We have advised them heavily to invest in jackets and beanies!
— Will Johnston is the local 9am-3pm host for The Hits Bay of Plenty 95FM. He's also a celebrant and MC. Follow Will on Instagram on @radiowil
