Schools lining up for games event

The Aims (Association of Intermediate and Middle Schools) Games are set to break records for participation when they take place in Tauranga in September.

The international sporting championships are into their tenth year and entries are looking strong with 71 schools confirmed with one week to go until entries close. There are currently 21 new schools including five from Australia - up from two last year.

Last year's games attracted 164 schools from throughout New Zealand and Australia (6000+ students and 1200+ coaches/managers).

The sporting championships give 11, 12 and 13-year-olds an opportunity to compete as an individual or in a team against the best of their age in 16 sports.

Each of the sports offered in 2013 will be hosted in superb facilities where the best for their age will have the opportunity to perform to their potential.

The aim of the event is to provide opportunities for the student in the middle years to compete at an elite level, be active, celebrate fair play and enjoy success. It is through events such as the New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) Aims Games that students are given challenges and the opportunity to perform to a high standard.

In nine years the NZCT Aims Games have gone from a small festival of sport, to what is now considered the International Championships for intermediate and middle schools. Hand in hand with the growth, has been the emergence of the NZCT Aims Games as a pathway, to sporting achievement and success. The 16 codes offered to Year 7 and 8 students in 2013 are badminton, basketball, cross country, football, golf, gym sports, hockey, indoor bowls, multi sport, netball, rugby league, rugby sevens, squash, swimming, tennis, water polo.

Tauranga Intermediate School's dominance at the Aims Games in six of the last seven years continued in 2012 with the school cleaning up the gold medals won and overall medal tallies. The school won 61 medals in total, with 24 golds, built around 36 medals won in the gym sports programme.

Christchurch's Heaton Intermediate came second, with 25 medals and 15 golds. Their superiority in the swimming events was almost complete, as they won 21 medals in the pool.

Auckland's Bucklands Beach Intermediate finished third, with 14 medals, eight gold.