Swoop the Magpie, Hawky the Hawk, and Seamore the Seagull compete at the mascot race at the opening of the 2025 North Island Colgate Games at Mitre 10 Sports Park in Hastings.
The North Island Colgate Games has begun at Mitre 10 Sports Park featuring over 1000 young athletes.
Swoop the Magpie, Hawky the Hawk, and Seamore the Seagull competed in a mascot competition to start the weekend.
The event runs from January 10 to 12, featuring athletes from New Zealand and Australia.
Hawke’s Bay’s biggest sporting showcase of the summer has kicked off in style, pitting three of the region’s most-loved mascots against each other to find out which bird has the most physical prowess.
A ceremony at Mitre 10 Sports Park on Thursday evening welcomed more than 1000 buddingathletes aged 6 to 14 to the North Island Colgate Games.
As part of this, the organisers gathered Swoop the Magpie from the Hawke’s Bay Magpies, Hawky the Hawk from the Hawke’s Bay Hawks, and Seamore the Seagull from Par2 MiniGolf in Napier.
Before the mascot battle began, local leaders and sponsors welcomed the leaders to the region.
While this took place, the mascots gathered in the changing room to get plumped up and feathered for the fight.
Swoop the Magpie (left), Hawky the Hawk and Seamore the Seagull in the changing rooms at Mitre 10 Sports Park in Hastings ahead of the mascot race at the 2025 North Island Colgate Games. Photo / Jack Riddell
Jordan Peters, a development officer with Athletics New Zealand, was the man behind Swoop.
Peters said he could feel the character’s power hit his veins the moment he put it on.
“I’m a very avid Magpies fan, so it’s an honour and a privilege to put this costume on,” he said, followed by a loud and proud “C’mon the Bay”.
However, Peters was happy for a more experienced Swoop to take over the role for the upcoming rugby season.
“There’ll be some more competitive candidates for the job, so I’ll let them take it up.”
Fifth-year Hawke’s Bay Hawks player Clifton Bush III grew up dancing on the sidelines of Hawks games and always wanted to be Hawky when he was older.
“So now I’m Hawky I feel like a childhood dream has just come true,” Bush said.
Bush ended up in the Hawky suit after his good friend Alex Van Oeveren, who competed as Seamore the Seagull, invited him over and asked if he wanted to compete in the mascot race.
“And I said yeah, sweet, I’m here for it,” Bush said.
Van Oeveren was also feeling the power of the seagull character.
“I feel a bit annoying, you know how seagulls are,” he said.
“If there’s chips and ice cream out there, I’ll take it.”
After the ceremony, the mascots donned their beaks and strode out onto the 100m track to the young competitors' cheers of delight.
Although the starting call was hard to hear from the finish line, it was clear that Swoop and Hawky had got the jump on Seamore at the start.
The two were neck and neck as they headed toward the finish line, with Swoopy stealing the win by a feather in a photo finish.
The photo finish of the mascot race at the 2025 North Island Colgate Games in Hastings shows Swoop the Magpie beat Hawky the Hawk by a beak. Photo / Dean Hulls
Swoopy’s finishing technique impressed nearby parent Dean Hulls, who had been teaching his children to finish races like that.
“Great for the kids to see,” he said.
Once all three mascots had crossed the finish line, they were ushered to the throwing circle, where the winner would be decided by a beanbag throw.
Hawky started off with an impressive throw but was quickly bettered by Swoop.
Seamore gave his throw his all but lost his footing at the last moment, chucking his beanbag to the floor.
And that decided it, Swoopy was declared the winner, followed closely by Hawky, with Seamore bringing up the rear.
The mascots stand on the dais with their medals, presented to them by Dr. Rabbit from Colgate (L), at the opening ceremony of the 2025 North Island Colgate Games in Hastings. Photo / Jack Riddell
The North Island Colgate Games run each day until Sunday, featuring young athletes from around New Zealand and Australia running, jumping, and throwing their way to the top.
The Hawke’s Bay Gisborne Athletics Centre clubs, from Gisborne to Dannevirke, will collectively have more than 100 athletes, 75 from the Hastings club.
There will also be an army of ticketed officials from throughout the North Island, with other volunteers, many of whom will be on the oval throughout the day, from 9am to 7pm on Friday and Saturday, and to late afternoon on Sunday.
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region, along with pieces on art, music, and culture.
