More than 300 school students are taking part in Te Puke Gymsport’s Schools Festival this month, with the competition providing a chance for young gymnasts to test their skills.

For some intermediate athletes, the event would also be an important lead-up to the Zespri Aims Games.

The Schools Festival has been split across two days due to the sheer number of competitors.

The first day, held on August 14, had more than 200 Year 5-6, intermediate and secondary school students participate. The second day, set for August 28, would bring about 75 Year 3-4 students to Te Puke Gymsport.

Competitors take part in gymnastics, tumbling and trampoline, and range from complete beginners to experienced gymnasts.

Te Puke Gymsport general manager Erin McKenna said the wide range is one of the things she enjoyed most about the festival.

“You can be a complete novice and have a go in this competition,” she said.

That was particularly valuable for intermediate students preparing for the Zespri Aims Games, she said, but the festival also gave children new to the sport an opportunity to discover gymnastics.

The Zespri Aims Games, which brings 11 to 13-year-olds from across New Zealand together in Tauranga to compete in 27 sport codes, begins September 5.

McKenna said gymnastics is one of the sports which students can enter Aims Games as novices.

“It gives kids that don’t necessarily have a sport or have been spent a long time in a sport a chance to go.”

Students from schools around Western Bay of Plenty compete in the Schools Festival.

Te Puke Gymsport has hosted the Schools Festival since at least 2019, which predates McKenna’s time at the club.

Hosting an event of this size required plenty of support, including volunteer judges and other helpers to keep the competition running throughout the day, McKenna said. “It’s a big event for our club.”

For younger competitors, however, the day was about more than scores and results.

“We have lots of fun, a few games and lots of laughs,” McKenna said.

The festival was another example of how Te Puke Gymsport had grown from a local gymnastics club to creating regional opportunities for young people to come together through sport, McKenna said.

The club offers gymnastics, parkour, tumbling and trampoline for recreational participants and competitive athletes.

Te Puke Gymsport has been hosting the Schools Festival since 2019.

McKenna said Te Puke Gymsport’s growth had also prompted it to work with Te Puke Dance Studios, The Graeme Dingle Foundation and Te Puke Junior Football Club on a proposed $5 million Bay of Plenty Movement HQ at Centennial Park.

A concept drawing of the Bay of Plenty Movement HQ which is set to be built in Te Puke. Image / Cube Architecture

McKenna said the partnership had completed its first phase, with $200,000 raised for planning, and building plans being developed before funding applications begin.

Meanwhile, the club was also fundraising for a piece of equipment – a new air track for its tumblers.

The current air track is more than 10 years old and had developed holes, McKenna said.