We were fortunate to participate in the recent Zespri AIMS Games in Tauranga for Year 7 & 8 students only. 

This is an international event that is bigger than the Commonwealth Games for numbers involved with 14,526 Competitors plus coaches, managers and volunteers. 

We had 32 students representing Chisnallwood across 6 codes. We would like to thank the parents of our individual competitors for travelling and supporting their child and for whānau who were court or field side to support during the week. We had great weather during the week and our tamariki performed well and represented the school with pride and enthusiasm. 

We would also like to thank Mrs Stevenson for accompanying the team as Catering Executive and ensuring the students were well fed and cared for.  

Surfing: James Dempsey

James made waves at this year's AIMS Games by securing first place in Surfing.

James overcame nerves and impressed the judges with his wave selection,  fluid maneuvers and consistent performance throughout the heats, quarter finals, semi finals and final.

James faced tough competition from talented young surfers across the country but remained calm under pressure and adapted to changing ocean conditions. 

James's achievement reflects lots of hours in the surf, perseverance and a passion for the sport.

Gymnastics & Swimming : Jack Chamberlain

AIMS Games 2025 was not something that was even on Jack’s radar. That was until a generous sponsor worked some magic and flew us up to Tauranga! 

Jack’s first event was Multi Class swimming on Saturday, where he competed in the 50m IM and then 50m backstroke (where he placed 3rd) and 50m freestyle (where he also placed 3rd).

Sunday bought gymnastics. Jack had a really successful competition in Level 2 Men’s Artistic Gymnastics. He placed 1st on Parallel Bars, 1st on High Bar, 1st on Floor, 1st on Rings, 2nd on Vault, 2nd on Pommel Horse and 1st All Around! 

On Sunday night we went to the Opening Ceremony which was so much fun, with cultural entertainment, lots of music and dancing.  We especially enjoyed listened to a really inspiring talk from Dame Sophie Pascoe. 

Monday was a fun day - Jack went out for a surf (despite there being next to no waves!) he still had a good time. Seven Sharp followed Jack’s journey to AIMS this year, and they caught up with him on the beach for a chat.

Tuesday we were back at the pool for Jack’s Multi Class 50m Breaststroke (which he placed 2nd in) and 100m backstroke. That wrapped up Jack’s competitions at AIMS.  Tuesday night Jack’s story was on Seven Sharp - we only just got back from the pool in time to watch it!  

We spent the rest of the week supporting  Chissy watching Rugby Sevens, Futsal, Surfing and Hockey.  

We joined in the Polar Plunge at Pilot Bay on Thursday, climbed Mount Maunganui and took in the incredible views, we walked through the beautiful nature reserve on Moturiki Island, had fish and chips on the beach, had a relaxing soak in the hot pools and of course had a delicious waffle cone ice-cream down on the beach. 

It was an incredible week with new friends and lots of memories made.

Canoe Slalom & Sprint: Jack Robertson  

Jack was one of only 2 athletes from the South Island to compete in Canoe Slalom and Sprint. 

Canoe Sprintwas held in Pilot Bay Mt Maunganui 

The course was out and back around buoys over 300m. The first leg was into a fierce head wind with a faster down wind leg back to the beach. 

The supplied boats were 5 metres long and had a rudder to control turning. There were over 100 competitors racing and almost 50 in the Year 8 Boys category. 

Jack managed to get into the E final and got 5th - 32nd overall. This was his first time competing in canoe sprint so was a great result. 

Canoe Slalom was held at McLaren Falls in the Kamai Ranges. Rain and wind were the main features of the race.

Kayaks were supplied and are made of carbon fibre, 3.5m in length and very light and designed to turn easily. The course is set on flatwater and the paddler needed to negotiate 5 downstream and 2 upstream gates, with either a roll or 3 complete revolutions part way through. 

The roll option is significantly faster but required far more skill than the revolutions- and you get wet. Jack managed to roll in each of his races. 

Ranking was based on time trials and Jack was ranked 10th after these.After that Jack competed in the head to head section- racing against another paddler on an identical course alongside 

Jack managed to get through two rounds and ended up getting 10th overall. For his second only competition - another excellent result. 

Canoe Slalom Teams Race 

Using the same course as the individual racing the format was split into school based teams and mixed school teams. All the team members raced at once having to cross the line within 15 seconds of each other- the fastest time winning 

Jack and his team, Ella from Ngatimoti and James from Highlands came 3rd in the mixed teams race.

Jack was one of only 2 athletes from the South Island to compete in Canoe Slalom and Sprint- Ella Quinlivan from Ngatimoti was the other 

Futsal: Coach: Jade Scott

Team: Zaiden Horvat (Captain) Lewis Harland, Walter Bongartz, Zach Jones, Benji Mangos, Tom Morton, Jacob Herron, Oscar Smith, Louie Jerneskog, James Dempsey

The Futsal team represented Chisnallwood with pride, effort and enthusiasm throughout the week. 

They started off their campaign strongly winning their first 2 games to make it through to the top 32. They were on a roll and won three out of their next four games to make the top 8. 

The top 8 was a new challenge and a very tough game against Taradale Intermediate that finished 4-0 in favour of them, dropped us into the 5-8 section. We bounced back strongly against Napier to claim a 4-0 win to make it into the final for 5th/6th. After being up 2-1 at halftime, Palmerston North overpowered us to take the win 4-2. The team finished in 6th place, which was a great achievement out of 53 total teams. 

They finished with 32 goals scored, 16 conceded and a huge amount of saves made by Walter Bongartz and Jacob Herron. Zaiden Horvat was our ‘golden boot’ winner with 10 goals. Tom Murton and Benji Mangos also contributed well on the score sheet with 6 goals each.

Rugby 7’s Boys: Coach: Caleb Johnson,

Team: Kyarn Tam (Captain), Atekini Vakaboro, Malachi Mackie-Walker, Nikau Komene, Rocco Blair, Tobias Fenton, Carter Smith, Johno Temepo, Daniel Leka, Isaac Stack 

The Rugby 7’s team played with passion, grit and determination throughout the week.

The first 2 days of the 7’s campaign saw us in pool play picking up wins over Randwick Park school winning 19-12 and Te Kamo College winning 26-19. We suffered losses to Liston College 20-12 and Te Puke Intermediate 38-7. This saw us move into a new pool playing for the shield. This saw us first match up with Tuakau College the boys played very well as a team and pulled out a tough 14-10 win. We then had a very dominant win over Bishop Viard College winning 33-5. For our final games in our 2nd pool we unfortunately lost to Manurewa Intermediate and Whangarei Intermediate 26-7 and 34-7. 

We then moved into our final 2 games. The first was against another Canterbury school St Thomas’s College this game would decide the top finishing South Island school in the tournament. The game went back and forwards but after a late game break up the middle from team captain Kyarn the boys managed to take a 19-17 win. 

Our final game saw us match up against Te Kamo Intermediate for a 2nd time. This game was another hard fought game and came right down to last play with a cross kick from Carter Smith resulting in a full time try from Malachi Mackie-Walker to see the boys win 19-17.

The team finished with 6 wins and 4 losses finishing 21st out of 42 teams. All players represented the school well showing the 4R’s and competing hard on the field. A special mention to Kyarn Tam, team captain and top point scorer for the tournament.

Hockey: Coach -  Jane Ryder Foskett

Team: Anameka Cherry (Captain)  Maeve Ryder Foskett, Mikayla Mellish, Archie Black, Cooper Tait, Niah Nicholas, Zach Bell, Lilah Baird, Zac Hasson, Mila de Bes

The Hockey team had an amazing experience at the recent AIMS Games.

In total, we played nine games. Our first match was against ACG Tauranga, and although we lost 8–1, their team was extremely respectful after the game, which made it a great start to the week.

That same day, we had two more games. We bounced back with a solid 6–1 win against St Joseph's, followed by a tough 0–3 loss to Matarau.

On our third day in Tauranga, we had two more games. We started with an exciting 3–1 win against Tauranga Intermediate — a back-and-forth battle that kept us on our toes. Later that day, we faced Pompallier Catholic and narrowly lost 1–2 in a close match.

The following day, we only had one game, which gave us a bit of a breather. That match ended in a 2–3 loss to Farm Cove Intermediate, another close contest.

Our final three games took place over the last two days. We came away with two wins (7–0 and 2–1) and one challenging 1–5 loss. Despite the score, we gave it our all and kept fighting until the end.

Outside of the games, we made the most of our time in Tauranga — visiting the mall, heading to the beach, exploring the Mount, and of course, enjoying some well-deserved ice cream near the base of Mount Maunganui.

Overall, I think we played amazingly well as a team and had a great coach, Jane Ryder-Fosket. We had a few injuries here and there, but we recovered quickly and kept pushing through. I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to compete in the AIMS Games this year, it’s an experience I’ll never forget!

-Anameka Cherry