More than 30,000 bowls have been bowled, more than 1300 rugby tries scored, and nearly 1500 football goals kicked as the sun sets on the final day of the Zespri AIMS Games 2023.
When former All Black Nathan Harris signed up for the first-ever AIMS Games 20 years ago, rugby wasn’t an option.
So, he played football instead – and lost all but one game.
But, he says, the iconic intermediate-aged sports tournament was never about winning or losing. It was about building long-lasting friendships and wearing the school’s jersey with pride.
The 32-year-old’s impressive sporting career has seen him pull on the All Blacks, Chiefs, and Bay of Plenty Steamers jerseys.
In 2004, he proudly wore the AIMS Games jersey for the Te Puke Intermediate football team at a sporting tournament that two decades later has become the “talk of the town”.
“I remember they had created this thing called the AIMS Games and it was pretty much like the Olympics for intermediate kids,” says the now Pāpāmoa College sports teacher.
Captain of Te Puke Intermediate’s Tai Mitchell rugby team at the time, Nathan signed up.
“I loved all sports, so I thought I would chuck my name in,” he says. “But when I went to sign up, there was no rugby.”
“It’s that sense of community and building those friendships. It was the sense of representing not just myself, my friends, and my family, but my community and my school. Every time I put on that jersey I felt a sense of pride.”
As Tauranga is set to welcome nearly 13,000 athletes from 390-plus schools to compete across 27 sports for its 2024 competition next week, Nathan says it’s exciting to see how big the games have become.
“Now, it’s the talk of the town,” he says. “It keeps people coming back to the Bay of Plenty.”
His advice to the thousands of athletes taking part in this year’s games is to simply, “enjoy it”.
“Think about the fun aspect of it, the friends you will make, and the people you will meet,” he says.
“Soak up every chance you get to put on that sporting outfit and to wear that jersey.”
