Kaia Ranston is proud to get the Eskdale name out there after the flooding hit her school hard. Alan Gibson / Aims Media
Kaia Ranston is proud to get the Eskdale name out there after the flooding hit her school hard. Alan Gibson / Aims Media
Kaia Ranston is putting Eskdale School on the Zespri AIMS Games map as the school’s only competitor in this year’s intermediate-aged sporting tournament.
Out of 11,733 athletes, the Year 7 pupil is representing her school in artistic gymnastics during the week-long tournament on September 2-8 in Tauranga.
Kaia madethe four-hour trip from Napier to Tauranga with her dad Jason Ranston to compete in the Girls Open Junior Advanced category for artistic gymnastics on Sunday.
The teenager said she was proud to get the Eskdale name out there after the flooding that hit the region earlier this year and the damage it had caused.
“It’s just me. It feels weird because no one else is really coming up, but it feels really cool to be representing the school.
“It was pretty bad – our field is still super muddy and damaged.”
Kaia properly began gymnastics when she was 3 years old and said she has been passionate about it ever since. She trains around 12 hours a week at Omni Gymnastics Centre in Napier.
“I love just flipping around and having fun,” she said.
Kaia Ranston with proud dad Jason Ranston. Alan Gibson / Aims Media
To support his daughter, Jason Ranston was acting as her team manager, coach and cheerleader all in one.
“I’m very proud of her to be representing her school and to be able to participate in the games, which is very popular around the country.
“The main thing is that Kaia wanted to show that the smaller schools can bring it just as much as the bigger schools.”
Eskdale School principal Tristan Cheer said it was “awesome” to have a student head up to the games on behalf of the school.
“I think it’s great that we can provide that opportunity for our students to not only compete with other students but also take part in the other events that are going on in Tauranga, and have Eskdale be represented.”
Kaia Ranston just loves flipping around. Alan Gibson / Aims Media
Cheer said that as a full primary school with not many Year 7 and 8 students, it was great to see students come through the school that can compete at the AIMS Games.
“We look for opportunities where students are excelling in whatever they’re doing and support them to take part when they can.”
