Matt Brown (left) with his Rip Rugby team from Otakiri School in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. Photo: RNZ/ Photo/Leah Tebbutt
Five months of fundraising and more than two hours of travel a day is what some of the country's intermediate aged children have gone through to be in Tauranga this week.
The city has seen an influx of 20,000 visitors this week for the most exciting event on a pre-teen's calendar.
After a two-year hiatus the AIMS Games are back.
The multi-code sporting event is one of the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere.
Matt Brown first attended the games in 2019 as a coach for Otakiri School's rip-rugby team.
It was then he decided he would bring as many children as he could to the next event.
"Out of our 45 to 50 year 7 and 8 students, we've got 26 which are here," Brown said.
"We made it a bit of a mission to open up more sport and it's really good for our kids from Otakiri to get an opportunity to see that the world is bigger than Otakiri."
Now each day this week more than half of Otakiri School's intermediate-aged students are travelling at least 70km morning and night to compete.
The school is just outside Edgecumbe, in the Whakatāne District.
"We drop them home afterwards and then we get up early and come back the next day, which is cool, it's all part of it.
"The kids are loving waving and playing paper scissors rocks with the kids in the cars on the way here."
Brown said for his students, it was not about winning.
"Our kids deserve it just as much as any other kid. For them to build confidence and see that if they work hard, if they apply themselves and are willing to earn it, then I think that is going to transfer into their life."
Taipa Area School netball team has fundraised for five months to attend the AIMS Games. Photo: RNZ/ Photo/Leah Tebbutt
The same can be said for students from Taipa Area School in the Far North.
Netball coach Tracy Rupapera said her team fundraised for five months to afford the eight hour trip down.
"There is not a lot of money up North, so we had to really dig in there," Rupapera said.
"We had great support from our kura. With the fundraising we did things like hangi, raffles, sponsorship. The girls have worked really hard."
Rupapera said the tournament was an opportunity for her team, who would otherwise play the same six teams, to grow as players.
"It's great experience for our development team, they might not be in some cases up to that level of play but it's a good experience to show them what they need to be doing, what level they need to lift themselves to."
The girls agreed.
"We do want to do well, we want to win. But we want to experience more against other teams".
The twelve players from Taipa help make up the 10,840 students all competing.
AIMS Games trustee Cameron Mitchell said it was a vast improvement from when the tournament began 19 years ago.
"We started off in 2004 with four sports and 700 athletes. Today we have 23 sports on offer."
Mitchell said the games were originally created to promote intermediate schools at a time when some around the country were being closed.
"Intermediate and middle schools are unique educational spaces for students of this age in the rapidly changing stage of their life. It's about giving them as many quality sporting opportunities.
"But also, we all know the value of sport and the positive impact it has on communities."
The 2019 tournament injected nearly $6.5 million into regional coffers.
As well as the memories and camaraderie it created for the competing athletes, it was also a big deal for local businesses.
