In Week 7, 74 students had the week of their lives representing Rāroa up in Tauranga at AIMS Games.

After a two year hiatus due to COVID, it was a week of great successes and an opportunity for students to develop and cement lifelong friendships. Rāroa sent the largest contingent of any Wellington school to AIMS and the teams overall successes were incredible.

Yachting

Mason Spray was our only representative in Sailing this year and he was spectacular. He flew off the start line and completed 9 races to finish an overall 9th and 2nd in the Year 7 boys division.

Indoor Bowls

The felt carpets were William Goldstein's domain and he had a great time, supporting his peers and then performing well in a highly competitive field.

Tennis

Kumin Shin was entered in the Silver division and had some tough opposition to come up against, balancing her wins with her losses. Sahana Sambhus competed in the gold division and made some strong moves early on to finish an impressive 17th overall.

Swimming

We had a team of 5 swimmers enter numerous events in the pool. The boys showed incredible sportsmanship throughout the week and were consistently heard above everyone cheering their mates on. This helped the boys register an incredible amount of Personal Bests, a number of top tens including a 4th in the relay and Declan Broadfoot managed an impressive 8 medals in the pool. 1 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze - a superb effort. This was our first team event where Jack McPhail picked up the Team Player award. A big thanks to Rachel Broadfoot for managing the team during the week.

Swimming team: Declan Broadfoot, Harry Edwards, Jed O'Donnell, Luca Lavigne, Jack McPhail.

Cross Country

There were 5 awesome races on the Sunday for the Cross Country which was run on a beautiful day.
The Year 7 Girls race was fantastic, Sianne Blignaut, Sophie Hoar and Lily McAree were just superb as they powered ahead gaining places throughout the race. An impressive effort from the girls to ensure they finished strong
The Year 7 boys of Tommy Sutherland and Tyler Gilmour were in a blistering race where they competed very admirably. It was amazing to see the grit and determination they showed as they persevered - it was awesome to hear both of their determination to improve for next year.
Hannah Wade, Abbey Kemp, Sophie Dowman, Hadassah Humphries and Kate Mills were our representatives in the Year 8 girls race and they showed incredible heart. As they hooned around the course, they were all consistently picking up places showing their high level of fitness. The girls placed 4th overall in the team competition with Hannah Wade finishing an impressive 6th.
The Year 8 boys blitzed it from the beginning. They got off to brilliant starts and maintained some excellent form to claim the bronze in the team event. Rhys Elliot-O'Neill, Zach Graham, and Nikhil Ranchord were fast and full of energy which made them a delight to watch.
Cross country finished with the 6 x 1km Relay which saw Nikhil, Abbey, Sophie, Zach, Hannah and Rhys take to the track one more time. Nikhil boosted it off the start line and got us into an excellent starting position while Abbey and Sophie solidified that start. Zach took to the track and gained a spot before Hannah pulled us back the bronze medal position. Rhys had to hold off an attack from 4th position but did so with relative ease securing the second bronze for the day.
Hannah Wade's effort in the Year 8 girls race and the relay saw her collect the Team Players medal for Cross Country.

Hockey

This was the first year that Rāroa sent a mixed 7-a-side Hockey team and they were fantastic. Hockey started an impressive Monday which saw all the Team sports win their games. The self titled Raptors were impressive throughout the week due to their impressive positivity and encouragement. They found themselves in the toughest pool and played some magnificent hockey to come out of the pool in third. This saw the Raptors gunning for a top 20 spot and with a couple of wins to round out the week they managed to do exactly that. The Hockey team should be very highly commended for their efforts of getting out and about to watch all the other teams during the week. They were easily the loudest supporters on the sidelines and I know that the other teams appreciated their support. An impressive week from Van Andersen saw him pick up the Team Players medal for the Hockey team.

Hockey Team: Hadassah Humphries, Isabel Musson, Lily Carmen, Coco Anderson, Lily Sutherland, Van Andersen, Kishan Kumar, Quinn Fenwick, Jesse Mexted, Logan Keith,George Robiony-Rogers.

Boys Football

The Redhawks were a highly ambitious and energetic team. After making it through the horrendous Monday weather conditions with comfortable wins, the boys continued their amazing form coming out of their group unbeaten. They were an impressive watch with the Moyle twins working in tandem bringing the ball through the middle and feeding the strikers ball after ball while the defenders including Dylan Saywell and Luke Malden showing impressive calm at the back. It was through to the round of 16 for the boys where they took on a huge Rosmini team and a lucky goal followed by an unbelievable strike saw the Redhawks knocked out of the main draw. The boys had started strong but were determined to finish stronger and continued to showcase their silky skills ending up taking down some traditional powerhouses on their way to finishing 11th. In an impressive draw the boys just kept running and encouraging each other and should be delighted to finish at the pointy end of the draw. Luke Malden was chosen by the boys as their Team Player Medal winner.

Boys Football Team:

Luke Malden, Bilal Kusuma, Jett Allan, Eddy Pope, Harry Moyle, Luke Moyle, Ryan Bateson, Freddie Letts, Dylan Saywell, Emmet McMahon, Cohen Donn, Levi Hackston, Cooper Sue, Sean Martinsen.

Girls Football

Like the boys the girls got through a treacherous day on Monday unbeaten. It was clear that this team was well drilled and had an awesome game plan. This was the result of some robust team meetings the girls had had the previous evening. Their excellent form continued throughout the week as they kept working for each other. Some impressive runs from Ella Turner, wonder goals from Scarlett Inder and tiresome running from both Abbey Kemp and Sophie Dowman ensured the girls made it through to the quarter finals despite dropping a game against a fierce team from the North Shore. It the quarters that this team came alive and after trailing for most of the game, an excellent through ball from Isabella Bayliss-Tremain saw Scarlett score just before full time to send the game to penalties. Our girls stepped up calmly to slot their penalties whilst Celeste Dickson stood in goal and was more solid than a brick wall saving all of the oppositions penalty attempts. The girls continued their high through to the semis where they they met an impressive Northcross. A loss saw them through to the 3rd/4th play off match on the Live stream. It was a game of two halves where Rāroa dominated the first half putting shot on after shot, the second half saw Kate Mills spend all her energy running tirelessly back to help her defenders out. The game finished 0-0 meaning the bronze would be decided by penalties. 

Our hero from the Quarters was in goal again and once again, Celeste stood up saving some excellent shots on goal. With one penalty left to win, coach asked Celeste to take the shot and she nailed it with ease. Celeste and the girls had claimed the bronze! After an impressive week, Isabella Bayliss-Tremain won the Team Player Medal.

Girls Football team:Celeste Dickson, Hannah Wade, Bella Malone, Indy Malone, Abbey Kemp, Isabella Bayliss-Tremain, Sophie Dowman, Kate Mills, Ella Turner, Scarlett Inder, Eva Catherwood, Holly Jones, Olivia Roe, Jade Jamieson.

Netball

The Eagles arrived in Tauranga with a steely determination. It was clear that they were after results and their performances and attitude deserved it. In the hurricane weather that was Tauranga, the girls treated it like a slight Wellington breeze and showed grit and determination to see off some of their biggest threats in pool play. Georgia Gill must have felt at home in the rain as she stole ball after ball feeding it through to the impressive shooting trio of Grace Allen, Meg Carmen and Zoe Hastings. 

The resolve didn't just stop on day 1 as the Eagles juggernaut rolled on. A highlight for defenders Belle Tankersley was the 1 point win vs Northcross which saw tears from her teammates Ruby Horner and Sofia Borrero-Gonzalez. This win meant the the Eagles had made the top 32. The top 32 wasn't enough for the Eagles as a new goal of a top 8 emerged with Defenders Niyumi Hittihamilage and Lottie Davidson consistently preventing the ball getting anywhere their hoop. The top 8 was more than in reach by the time Thursday rolled on and some excellent performances from Danielle Tewhata and Sophie Paku (whose feet had literally fallen off) saw them enter the top 8 to come up against Hutt Intermediate. The quarter final was a blistering affair with Danielle and Sophie consistently putting some amazing balls through to their shooters and Belle and Georgia regularly stopping the ball enter the defensive third. 

Unfortunately it was bridge too far for the girls who then finished off an amazing week with a well deserved and incredible 7th place. Belle Tankersley was the stand out for the week and picked up the Team player Medal.

Netball team: Belle Tankersley, Danielle Tewhata, Grace Allen, Zoe Hastings, Lottie Davidson, Meg Carmen, Niyumi Hittihamilage, Ruby Horner, Sofia Borrero-Gonzalez, Georgia Gill, Sophie Paku.

Indoor Cricket

The Indoor Cricket boys arrived in Tauranga with a lot of talent and high expectations. A light schedule saw them regularly out and about supporting the other teams in a show of awesome team spirit. The week started off very well for the boys who showed their class right from the outset scoring very well on an impressive Monday. Jensen Faulkner was impressive with the ball and he seemed to have it on a string. Pool play lasted all week for the lads and game after game they threw down the gauntlet to the opposition, Lucas Jaine scoring well, Wil Snarski rotating strike, Nikhil Ranchord never seemed to miss the stumps while George Roach, and Zac Bridgman consistently looked impressive throughout the week. 

The old foe Tawa Intermediate were also looking impressive as they dominated the other pool. After an unbeaten pool play, Rāroa came up against a good Tauranga Intermediate team but with Leo Bridgman and Tom Wilkinson anchoring the innings, Rāroa put on an impressive score which was just too hard to beat. This set up a final against Tawa. 

Early Friday afternoon, saw the game start and some excellent fielding and some very impressive bowling by the boys saw Tawa restricted to 72. It was a solid start for Wil and Lucas who opened the batting and they never let tawa get on top. The game was well poised before the duo of Nikhil and Zac entered the arena but a record high partnership blew the game out of the water and sucked the air out of the Tawa sails. A composed finish by Leo and Tom saw Rāroa take the inaugural Gold medal in the Indoor Cricket. For his amazing energy, regular support and outstanding fielding, Nikhil Ranchord was awarded the Team Player Medal.

Indoor Cricket Team: Nikhil Ranchord, Tom Wilkinson, Leo Bridgman, Zac Bridgman, George Roach, Lucas Jaine, Wil Snarski, Jensen Faulkner.

I'd like to finish off by thanking all of the parents for their contribution to make the week happen. It was an unbelievable week which I know the students will never forget. Another huge thank you to the 20ish parents we had who gave up their week to ensure the students were well fed and rested, it is an immense undertaking so thank you very much.

 
To the crew of Leah McKenzie, James Mansfield and Chris Bailey, thank you for all your support to ensure our students had the best time.

The last thank you is to the coaches of the teams who put in weeks of effort in order to get the teams ready for such an event. From early morning practices to time off work for warm up games, it certainly paid off as the students all performed and represented Rāroa admirably. Cheers Jimmy Kemp, Julie Tewhata, Gabi Tankersley, Todd Bridgman, James Mansfield and Chris Bailey.