54 students and numerous parent travelled to Tauranga for the annual AIMS Games last week. Congratulations to all of them.

Girls Football

We were very excited about this years AIMS Games and after months of training, warm up games and meetings the games kicked off last Monday in beautiful Tauranga sunshine.

We started day one a little rusty and a lot of the girls were nervous so it was good to get a win over Peachgrove Intermediate as we knew the next game was going to be a tough one. Game two against Baradene College from Auckland taught us a big lesson losing 4-0. After being a bit flat we got up against St Mary’s from Auckland even after being a goal down after 26 seconds.

We knew that the first game against St Kentigern on the 2nd day was a must win to keep our chances alive in making the quarter finals. We lost in a heartbreaking game in stoppage time and we also lost Lara Smith to a horrific broken patella which ended her tournament. We were all devastated losing this game and Lara however showed the will to win our next game against Northcross in a physical, tight battle 1-0.

Going into Day three we knew we couldn’t make the quarter finals so we set a new goal of finishing 9th which was going to be our highest ranking that we could possibly achieve. We had two wins and a draw and then carried on into the final day winning all three games, including another tough game against Northcross 3-2. It meant we played off for 9th and 10th against Somerville Intermediate, where we showed our abilities and determination in a great display to win 4-0 to finish 9th out of 39 teams.

Highlights of our week was the opening ceremony which was pretty awesome, the great fun we had at the team house, as well as some of the close games that we managed to win.

A big thanks goes to Mr Tilley, all the Mums that helped out in the house and all the other parents, families and friends who made the trip to Tauranga to cheer us on. We couldn’t have done it without you.

By Liv Ingham

Squad - Liv Ingham (c), Sarah Griffiths, Lucy Jurke, Scarlett O'Donnell, Clara Kemp, Molly Mills, Sophie Cunningham, Maia Williams, Lola Byrne, Lara Smith, Jess Barker, Elliot Browne, Liv Catherwood, Maddie Porteus

A huge thanks goes to Nic and Nigel Ingham who have coached the girls this year. They have been running trainings before school on a Wednesday for the entire year as well as put hours of work into making the trip a success. The pair also found sponsorship to get the players in some amazing kit for the tournament. We are very grateful for all your selfless hard work. 

Matt Tilley

Netball 

130 teams, 13 games in 1 week. Hardcore play against the best year 8 players in the whole of the southern hemisphere. We had a superb week with lots of fun and entertainment. The first day was intense there were over 10 thousand athletes that attended the Anchor AIMS games. We had an inspiring talk by Valerie Adams saying to have fun and whatever place you come just to still have fun.

We were treated like real athletes, by getting rolled out and massaged after every single game. Day 3 everyone was really sore and tired. Everyday we were looking forward to going into the ocean after 3 games of netball. The ocean was really good at releasing all of our tight muscles.

The last day left us on a super high as although we had very tired bodies, we pulled out two awesome wins. A final victory over Maidstone Intermediate was welcomed by all our supporters.

We want to throw a very special shout out to our amazing coach Sam Hannah. Sam has worked with us all year and we have loved every minute of it. Kim Myhill and Andi Chapman are our hard working managers who helped make it all a reality. Julie White and Nicola Parkes stayed with us in the house which was much appreciated. We also had a huge number of parents that came up and supported us during the week. Our netball family is very much a special one so we look forward to our final match together against Hutt at the sporting exchange.

Team - Briana Parkes ( c ), Shaine Su’a, Shannon McCormick, Jade Bennie, Aaliyah Ormsby-Ryder, Xavia Hannah, Tayla Adamson, Liliana Myhill Chapman, Charlotte White, Millie Preston

By Briana Parkes, Charlotte White and Shaine Su’a

Boys Football

What an amazing event this was.

I was so pleased to once again send a boys football team to wear the red and green and represent Raroa in the 2018 AIMS Games.

As coach of the team, I couldn’t have been prouder of the way the boys prepared leading up to the games, as well as the attitude they had throughout the week. They not only played some really fantastic football, they all had a great time together both on and off the field.

There are a few special mentions that need to be made.

Firstly, to Lachie Macgregor. As our captain he left absolutely everything on the field in every game we played. His work rate and and desire for the ball was something to be admired and set the standard for the rest of the team.

Another player with an incredibly high work rate was Benji McMillan and this was reflected through being voted by the rest of the team, and parents as our Team Player of the Tournament. Benji was deserving of this medal not only for his output on the field, but because he encapsulated everything it means to be a team player; positive attitude in both winning and losing, supportive of his team mates, and willingness to help the team out in anyway possible - filling in multiple positions when needed.

Another mention needs to be made to Ben Dunning, who has been part of the team from day one. Unfortunately Ben had an accident a week prior to AIMS in which he broke his hand meaning he couldn’t participate. I want to thank Ben for his role in the team leading up to the games and for taking the news so well.

I am especially thankful to the parents who came along for the week. Without Kirsty Macgregor, Anna Cornelius, Nick Haywood, Natasha Bank, Ross McMillan, and Damian Stone, the week would never have run so smoothly and well organised. Thanks as well goes out to the parents who pre cooked a lot of our meals, and provided baking to keep us going throughout the week.

A truly amazing and memorable experience for everyone involved.

Bring on AIMS 2019 !!!

By Mr Chris Bailey

AIMS Games this year was very enjoyable for everyone. We not only had the opportunity to play against top quality teams but to actually travel up north to Tauranga.

The park was made up of 25 pitches filled with masses of tents, pop up shops and recovery rooms. Our team did incredibly well with some of our star performances with a 6-1 and 4-0 wins with Ollie Joe scoring a hatrick. There was also a team player award for best attitude with everything, which went to Benji McMillan.

Our squad for AIMS GAMES was:

- Lachie Macgregor (c), Jeremy Young, Ollie Joe, Aidan Henshaw, Alfie Crookston (vc), Jake Herbert, Hadley Bank, Luke Shields,  Josh Brown, Benji McMillan, Sam Malden, Arana Cronin-Stone, Thomas Zou, Connor Haywood

Other than play football, we went to a couple of malls and the hot pools in Mt Maunganui. The malls were fun as we were given a $5 voucher coming in handy for most people. All of us enjoyed the hot pools to relax at the end of a long day.

We are all very grateful for the experience of going to AIMS this year as well as how much effort Mr Bailey, Mr Tilley and all the other parents for putting in time organising it for us. We all thought the trip up was very successful.

By Lachie Macgregor

I really loved AIMS Games. One of the best moments of my life.

Now you are probably wondering about how big this competition is and I can tell you it is big! About 11,000 kids are there competing in all kinds of sports.

I was in the boys football team for 2018 and the experience is so cool. There were 25 pitches spread around a massive park. There were also stands with food, drinks and big chill out tents. They also have physio in case of in injury. And you get to do your favourite sport!!!

One of the best things about AIMS was definitely the game time. The refs were nice, there was good sportsmanship and everyone just had a good time. Even though there are ups and downs, going to AIMS is so worth the hard work.

By Benji McMillan

Squash

After a long trip to the house we got settled in and went to the beach and ran away from the waves crashing onto the shore. Running away from the waves was heaps of fun!

After dark, we arrived at the Opening Ceremony, where the very famous Valerie Adams spoke to us about achieving our goals. Apart from Valerie Adams, there was also a lot of other performances by young dancers, singers and kapa haka groups.

The next day we drove in a massive van to the Mount Maunganui Squash Club. Hugo Weatherly had the first game up for the Raroa Squash Team. The next few people where; Shay Gannon, Amelia Nicholl, Callum Greenhough, Conor Alison and Maxton Kenyon.

We all felt that it was an amazing experience for all involved and was over far too soon. Everyone had a great time getting Actively Involved at AIMS.

Written by Amelia Nicholl and Callum Greenhough.

Rock Climbing

Scarlett Anderson excelled in the rock climbing at AIMS. A very impressive 7th placed finish among 50 competitors. The competition was set up in three disciplines. Speed, top rope and bouldering were the categories. After everyone participated, 20 athletes including Scarlett qualified for the semi finals. Scarlett was thrilled with her performance while disappointed to only just miss out on the final that involved 5 competitors.

Tennis 

We also congratulate Holly Hilton (13th), Tuhina Sambus (16th) in tennis in a very strong field of 56. The girls played 5 games each with the New Zealand number 1 seed taking out the title. 

Golf

I was stoked to  finish 30th in the golf while my dad had the privilege of carrying my bags for the week. The golf was played across 4 rounds (72 holes). I had 4 days and every 2nd 18 holes I would play in a different playing group and had the best ever experience.  My highlight was having the opportunity to represent Raroa for the entire week and playing against the best golfers in the country. I felt very proud of our school.

By David Peach