“I wish that it went for another week!” -Adi Savutini It was one brilliant week up in Tauranga as the 2019 Anchor AIMs Games took place. With 70 students up there to represent Raroa, the camaraderie was high and the support of one another was just fantastic!

I was lucky enough to be able to see all students participate and give it their all. The manner in which these students held themselves was certainly a credit to themselves and our school with our ASPIRE values shone through.

I want to thank all the parents that came along to help out and support. Your initiative and willingness to help out made it so much easier for us all. You were amazing!!!

Jordan Price, Chris Bailey and Marian Williams

Cross Country:

What a way to start the week! The whole team of 70 showed up to support the runners in the wet conditions and they did not disappoint!

The Year 7 girls started us off and after fighting off the nerves absolutely smashed it. Abbie Sutherland and Maia Suttie were our first runners home in the 20s and were closely followed by the rest of the team Lucy Kemp, Rylee Adamson and Leonora Webb. A great effort from the team.

The year 7 boys stepped up with a lot of confidence and just floored it from start to finish. Connor Kemp ran the race of his life finishing an amazing 4th place being unlucky not to snatch a 3rd on the finish line. Echelon and Theo were 25th and 34th respectively which was enough to claim a team BRONZE for the boys! How good! You could certainly hear the Raroa crowd screaming as the boys brought it home!

The year 8 girls stepped up next and blew us away again! The crowd was ridiculously loud as Ava Sutherland crossed the line in smiles as she ran in an impressive 4th! She was ably backed up by Scarlett Anderson who couldn’t stop smiling after her 19th place finish (an improvement of over 20 places from last year!) Molly Mills was the 3rd runner to cross the line for Raroa and her effort grabbed Raroa a team 4th. Another outstanding result!

The year 8 boys lined up in the freezing rain and were huddled under an umbrella 90 seconds before the start! It was a huge start and race for the boys as they powered through, James Wembridge, Max Doherty and Conor Allison race their hearts out across the very steep course and came in with some hugely credible results.

The 6km relay race was next and the team of Ava, Connor, Theo, Scarlett, Max and JJ were ready to go. The rain gave away to the sun on the start line and we were away. Ava, Connor and Theo gave us a great start and it took us that long to realise that the 12km race was being run at the same time and we were currently running 2nd in the 6km race. Knowing that only lifted Scarlett, Max and JJ and give us another 300m and 1st place would have been ours! Nevertheless, it was a brilliant way to finish the day, claiming silver in the relay! Great way to boost the team before the team sports began!

Team: Abbie Sutherland, Maia Suttie, Rylee Adamson, Lucy Kemp, Leonora Webb, Connor Kemp, Echelon Topp, Theo Bray, Ava Sutherland, Scarlett Anderson, Molly Mills, James Wembridge, Max Doherty, Conor Allison

Boys Football:

Wow.. what a week!!! This is the third year the Raroa Boys Football team has travelled to AIMS but the first time officially as the ‘Raroa Redhawks’, complete with a brand new Redhawks kit.

The boys were fired up and ready to go on the first day of pool play, which was cemented with a 6-1 win against Puketaha School first up. The boys played some really fantastic football throughout the rest of the pool games and it was fantastic to see everything we have been practicing put into action. The Redhawks finished the first three days of games in second place in our pool, putting us through to the top sixteen playoffs - an amazing feat in itself! We went from strength to strength moving from top sixteen, to top eight, then to top four with wins over a very big, and strong Blockhouse Bay team, and Kerikeri Intermediate. The team were over the moon to get this far. We finished the fourth day of play with our third game going down 0-3 in the semi final against Sacred Heart College, who were an incredibly strong team and who went on to play Northcross in the final. This meant our last game on Friday morning was against Murrays Bay Intermediate (2018 winners). The Redhawks put in a really solid effort going 1-0 up in the first half but finishing with a 2-1 loss at full time putting us in 4th overall. A truly astonishing result for these boys!!!

I am extremely proud of the boys… not only for the way they played throughout the week but more for the way they conducted themselves on and off the pitch. They demonstrated the true meaning of being a ‘team’ - building each other up, helping each other out, supporting one another and representing Raroa to the best of their ability. Our captain Sam Malden showed great leadership over the week with pre, mid, and post game team talks, being supported in his leadership from Arana Cronin-Stone and Kael Kincaid. These guys rallied the team together and helped with keeping the focus and preparing well for each game. Congratulations also has to be made to Caleb Turner who was our top goal scorer banging in some absolute blinders, and Lucas Colon-Rivera who not only goes down as ‘assist king’, but also our MVP (Most Valuable Player) for his contribution to the team’s success.

AIMS Games Boys Football 2019 was a truly memorable experience and I feel privileged to have had the pleasure of coaching this group of fantastic boys over the year and watching them thrive and experience such success.

Raroa Redhawks 2019: Sam Malden (c), Arana Cronin-Stone (vc), Blake Porteous, Camden Gilchrist, Jesiah Moon, Echelon Topp, JJ Wembridge, Macintyre Stevens, Caleb Turner, Connor Kemp, Kael Kincaid, Lucas Colon-Rivera, Eamonn McCarron, Adam Rogers.

Girls Football:

These girls were simply unbelievable. They ran all day, kept their heads held high during all of the ups and downs of their week! It started off a bit rough as they faced the top 3 teams in their pool on day 1! Come day 2 though, the quality of this side came to light, they scored goals with ease, and stopped attacking plays with such authority. Rumours have it their lucky charm was there on day 2. The team shared the Goal Keeping duties around and it was awesome to see that heads didn’t drop when they were asked to step in and take the gloves. The best part of the team was the style that they played. It really was beautiful football, passing was on point and in every game, the girls would have had over 65% of possession. They should be commended for how they played.

Team: Molly Mills, Leonora Webb, Ruby Carman, Scarlett O’Donnell, Laney Chapman-Myhill, Iley Nunns, Lucy Kemp, Layla Parsons, Kate Ross, Iona Chaytor, Bella Thompson, Savannah Bridgeman

Girls Hockey:

These girls had the luxury of sleep ins and rest times before their games! This allowed them to keep all of their energy for their games! Two mega intense 0-0 draws saw them advance to the quarter finals. From here the intensity only lifted as the girls pushed themselves around the field, chasing down almost impossible through balls and tackling run away defenders with ease. The interchange bench was used regularly as the tactic of ‘run yourself to a stand still’ was effectively used. It was great to see the girls give 100% through their next few games and finished with a flourish, scoring an impressive goal from a well worked penalty corner to end the week on a high. The girls fully deserve the very credible 8th place finish and should hold their heads high as they overcame a number of different challenges throughout the week which included losing their outstanding goalkeeper, meaning the two Lucy’s jumped into the pads for the first ever time. The positivity in this team was epic and it should be greatly commended.

Team: Rhianna Parry, Lily Fenwick, Lucy Roach, Lucy Prince, Jasmine Cornes, Jessie Holland, Holly Familton, Zoe Mitchell, Erina McNutt, Isla McKenzie

Boys Hockey:

The boys had a brilliant week! It started off with a hiss and a roar getting the win against a well drilled team. They went up 1-0 early on and then some excellent saves by keeper extraordinaire Trijal and some just in time stops by the defence ensured the Raroa held on in an absolute nail-biter. They finished the rest of their pool games strong with a heap of running from the midfield to make it to the top 8! The opposition just got stronger and stronger and it was great to see the boys lift to meet it. They were never kept scoreless and often fought back from a deficit to keep the game tight and the opposition on their toes! This determined hockey side finished a superb 8th and should be delighted with their results.

Team: Cameron Jaine, Arham Jain, Nico Stewart, James Catherwood, Thomas Neville, Alex Anderson, Ben Adamson, Trijal Pednaker, Charlie Wragg, Theo Living

Netball:

A huge week for the Netballers as they picked up Raroa’s highest placing for a netball side at AIMS 43rd out of 125 teams! With an extremely large amount of teams, the girls did the school very proud. They played 3 games a day with long breaks in between fixtures and to their credit the girls managed themselves very well! The Eagles often came across players that towered over them and even a young man who would have pushed Casey Kopua in a height race. They however stuck to their guns and played a short passing game which Sophie, Celena, Sam, Abbie, Mani and Mia executed brilliantly frustrating their oppositions. Frustration then led to some excellent stops at the defensive end led by Cara and ably supported by Ella and Maddix. These were soundly converted in the shooting circle with some pinpoint shots from Chloe, Adi and Angel. It was a great team effort all week, and they kept it so consistent that they went 2 from 3 each day! It was great to see that all the girls played with huge smiles on their faces, keeping each other positive at all times! The Eagles should be incredibly proud!

Team: Angel Ridout, Sophie Cunningham, Sam Thomas, Abbie Sutherland, Mani Folau, Mia Woodley, Cara McCully, Ella Barr, Maddix Maxwell-Cowell, Adi Savutini, Chloe Malpass, Celena Gotico

Squash:

The squash team was absolutely superb up at AIMS. The five stayed together and supported each other terrifically and it was awesome to see that the Raroa games had the most supporters at them. Theo played his heart out at the top end of the draw and kept his head up against some high quality opposition, showing excellent sportsmanship he finished a very credible 8th. Amelia decided to make the most of her trip to AIMS and played the majority of her games to 5 sets! She showed amazing determination and grit to keep on keeping on and finished 20th. Alex had a week to remember and competed amazingly up there. Jumping up a few spots early on to really push himself against a couple of top notch squash players, he ended up 31st. Conor (49th) and Hugo (35th) had a wonderful time up there, showing some herculean efforts to keep rallies going and chasing balls right to the end. It was a great effort all round and the support they showed each other was amazing.

Team: Theo Gannon, Amelia Nicholl, Hugo Weatherly, Alex Fingleton, Conor Allison

Table Tennis:

Louis Priestly-Spicer was our lone participant in the Table Tennis this year and he did our school proud. Going in unseeded allowed Louis the freedom to play without any pressure. He did very well and played some excellent games getting a comfortable win, and a couple of tight losses. Well done for a good day out Louis!