Waerenga School transitioning to a full primary has opened up so many opportunities for our Year 7 and 8 tamariki, and the AIMS Games is just one of those.
On Sunday, 6th September, eight budding athletes took off for Tauranga to compete in their first AIMS Games. The AIMS Games are held annually in Tauranga and Mt Maunganui and have over 14,000 competitors representing hundreds of schools. They are primarily targeted at the intermediate years of Years 7 & 8 (11 yrs to 13 years of age). These games are run with the same efficiency and precision of international competitions and I am sure it is where a lot of our future Olympians start their journey.
Ava Driver, Reece Parsons, Riley Walters, Leighton Croucher, Brody Barakat, Isaac and Beauden Hamill and Payton Hair all competed in the cross country for their first AIMS Games. Riley also competed in golf. All these young athletes showed GRIT, DETERMINATION, PRIDE, FOCUS and RESILIENCE. All the attributes we like to install in our tamariki, both at home and school. These eight top Waerenga athletes did not disappoint and showed all these qualities in abundance.
The cross country was a 3km run with most of it on the flat along with a couple of hills. Even though a flat course doesn’t sound too arduous this 3km run ended up being a 3km SPRINT! None of these tamariki were mucking around and our amazing runners were racing against hundreds in their own age groups, along with runners who train up to 30 km weekly. They are serious runners aiming for a bright future. The Waerenga crew performed outstandingly and ALL achieved a personal best. They were so proud of themselves – as we were of them!
After the cross country sprints Riley then had to prepare for her golf competition. She was entered into the ‘9 hole Individual Stableford – Girls division 2’ competition. This involved playing three 9 hole games over three days around the Tauranga area. Competition was expected to be tough for Riley, but in true Riley style she went in confident with the same determination and grit she showed for the cross country.
After three days of tough competition Riley pulled it out the bag and came out on top claiming FIRST PLACE in her division. Riley finished the competition with a score of 75 points, her closest competitor having a score of 57 points. This was clearly a comfortable, and well deserved, win for Riley.
Huge congratulations to all our tamariki who represented Waerenga School and themselves with confidence and dignity, fulfilling out school motto “Make Yourself Proud”. They will carry this memory for a long time and we are so very proud of them all!
