Te Puke area schools reap benefits of AIMS Games participation

Te Puke Intermediate School's AIMS Games rugby 7s winning team. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Te Puke Intermediate School's boys' 7s team became the comeback kings of the 2022 AIMS Games.

As early as day one of the rugby 7s tournament, the team was showing its resilience and bounceback-ability in a group game, something that would stand them in good stead at the business end of the competition later in the week.

Te Puke came through, beating Rotorua Intermediate School 21-17 on Friday to take the AIMS Games title for the third time in the past five tournaments.

Teacher Aaron Sutherland, who oversees the school's rugby academy, was coaching the school's 7s team for the first time.

"We had probably three big moments to get us through to the final. We were down on the very first day 17-5 at halftime [to Koromatua School] in a game and we scored 24 unanswered points in the second half to keep us on the side of the draw we were on, which was quite important."

Captain Teina Williams leads out the Te Puke Intermediate School's rugby 7s team. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

They overcame halftime deficits in the quarter and semifinals and were down 12-7 in the final before.

"It just shows how connected they were as a group, how they worked for each other, how they all contributed at different moments. When the boys who were the leaders in the team needed to stand up and be counted they put their hand up and led and stood up which was amazing."

Six months of preparation went into the win.

"They've worked hard all year and it shows - the work and the preparation they put in for six months prior is the difference in those second halves - they were able to keep working hard and I think that was a big reason why we could be so good."

In the games they fell behind, the players needed a reminder they were not playing as they had prepared, and they responded.

Immediately after the final Aaron said he had had modest goals at his first AIMS Games as a coach.

"I was hoping to get to the top eight. But when we made it to the top four and then the final, it was just unbelievable."

Since the rugby academy was formed in 2016, the school has consistently finished in the top four in the AIMS Games boys' rugby competition.

"The rugby academy is based around 7s, we practise and prepare for 7s. There have only been five AIMS Games [since] and we've won three which is phenomenal for a school our size. It's quite phenomenal to be competing nationally with some really big schools."

There was also success in other sports with Evie Metcalfe winning silver in the 100m butterfly and Eve Maniapoto and Season Lertlart-Gurang second in the badminton girls' doubles.

Bowen Pohe on his way to scoring Te Puke's second try in the boys' rugby 7s final. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

The girls' rugby 7s team was fourth, the mixed hockey team eighth and the quick rip team 10th, with Evie also having a fifth, a seventh and two eighth places in the pool, Sheldon Hogan fifth in the 100m butterfly and eighth in the freestyle and Olivia McLachlan eighth in the Year 8 girls' cross country.

Principal Jill Weldon, who also sits on the AIMS Games Trust, says there was a lot of jubilation euphoria at the school on Friday where the rugby final was live streamed, but there were much wider benefits for all the students who took part in the games.

She says the return of the games after a two year absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic was welcome.

"The reinstatement of the games brings back to life that vibe for the whole tournament for everybody whether they are part of organising it, or part of the community," she says.

"Overall we are pretty stoked with how our kids measured up and how they got on. [Sports co-ordinator] Cam [Black] was pretty happy in terms of realising the benefits from all the preparation from the coaches and managers and parents and staff over the last three or four months.

"Making top 10 or top eight when you've got that number of teams in the various competitions is quite an achievement for us, a school of just over 400 kids."

While many students may well have seen having a week off school as the main plus of competing in the games, Jill says she hopes the games are an inspiration for them.

"As a trustee, I hope the feeling and the vibe of competing at an event like that inspires them to want to continue to do that, whether it's on a big stage like the Comm Games or Olympics or school sports week at high school or if their team is invited to a tournament, they are keen to do that because of their experience at AIMS Games."

Students from Rangiuru School competed in water polo, table tennis and indoor bowls.

Teacher Danielle Newcomb says the games offered a chance for students to attend as a school.

"Usually we combine with other schools to do sport, so it was an opportunity for the kids to train and have a goal to go and compete at AIMS.

"We were making sure that, even though we are a small country school, those Year 7 and 8 kids were still getting the opportunities they would get elsewhere."

She says the atmosphere of the games and of being in a team and the participation, encouragement and sportsmanship were huge.

"Keeping positive [was important]. Some of those teams we played were pretty tough in water polo, so the fact that they had the determination to not give up and get in the pool each day was huge in itself because it's not fun losing. But the kids, they really just had a positive attitude and kept going and they just had a lot of fun together which is really cool."

For some, they were involved in sports they might not have tried.

The school also made connections in the wider community with people coaching the students, particularly for the bowlers.

"I'm incredibly proud to be their teacher and coach for the water polo team," says Danielle.

Pongakawa School students also competed in the AIMS Games with Maia Abraham and Ruby Delaere winning gold and bronze respectively in the artistic flyers girls' gymnastics.

Taking part in the Zespri NZ Aims Games has been an important part of Pongakawa School's culture since it first took part in 2005.

Over the years the school has won a number of medals.

Principal Craig Haggo says, as a rural full primary school, Pongakawa punches well above its weight.

"Pongakawa students actively seek a part in the competition and the size of the school allows us to send a large contingent of students each year.

"This year we had students enter in hockey mixed grade, badminton, cross country, gymnastics, table tennis and rock climbing. The four boys who took part in the rock climbing did well with Noah Meir finishing in 12th place.

"While it is a fantastic sporting experience, the expectations of students and staff is that they are there to medal and not just to take part."