Sports correspondent & historian with Sideline Sid

Sport is about big numbers, with next week’s Zespri Aims Games to be held in our city again breaking new ground with competitor numbers.

The Year Seven and Eight sporting tournament to be held August 30-September 5 in the Western Bay of Plenty will host a massive 14,021 young athletes from 431 schools.

Four Western Bay of Plenty Intermediate School principals came up with the concept of a sporting tournament for the Association of Intermediate and Middle Schools, which kicked off in September 2004.

I had the privilege of a ringside seat to the first half-dozen Aims Games after being approached to co-ordinate the tournament media.

The 2004 Aims Games consisted of football, hockey, netball and cross country running, which have become the cornerstone sports of the annual tournament.

Just 760 competitors from 17 mainly Bay of Plenty and Waikato schools signed up for the inaugural Aims Games.

The cross-country event at Waipuna Park in Welcome Bay, which for many years opened the Aims Games, attracted big numbers of competitors from year one.

Such was the success of the first Aims Games that new sporting codes were added and a myriad of new schools quickly picked up the Aims Games competition baton. Today, there are 27 Aims Games sports on offer.

Along with traditional team sports, today’s menu of competition includes a diverse range that includes canoe racing, yachting, hip-hop, orienteering, surfing, indoor bowls, sport climbing and BMX.

Such is the response for tickets to the Aims Games Opening Ceremony at the Baypark Arena, there are two formal openings, at 3pm and 7pm.

A prominent part of the proceedings is the Fair Play promise which is undertaken by player, coaches, supporters and officials.

Much of the success of the Aims Games can be given to the Western Bay of Plenty community which has embraced the tournament since day one.

Partnerships, such as with Tauranga City Council, have laid the platform for a seamless accommodation of visitors to the annual sporting tournament.

However, the biggest partnerships are the Aims Games and the Western Bay of Plenty sports organisations that run the competitions, supply the officials, and in some cases provide the venues.

The partnerships have become a two-way street with the Aims Games establishing the Give Back Games, to give back to the community.

Points can be accumulated for competing schools; by using the loop or opening ceremony buses, taking a reusable cup to the coffee van, taking part in the coastal clean-up or tree planting and being part of the food rescue initiative.

While Aims Games success will be celebrated in the short term, the enduring legacy for the young participants will be the fellowship of competing in a tournament that grows the spirit of sport into their future.