Editorial: Not just question of sport

The AIMS Games opening ceremony. Photo / File

Thousands of school children are in Tauranga this week to take part in a locally grown success story: the NZCT AIMS Games.

The tournament began in 2004 as a four-sport contest between Tauranga, Otumoetai, Mount Maunganui and Te Puke Intermediate schools. Over the past 10 years it has flourished and now draws teams from as far afield as Australia and Rarotonga.

This year's Association of Intermediate and Middle Schools Games has more than 6500 competitors from a record 193 schools. To illustrate just how quickly the event has grown, in 2008 there were more than 2700 competitors and 64 schools.

The range of sports has expanded to include basketball, golf, squash, water polo, multi-sport and tennis. Now 16 sports are included on the programme.

The organisers and sponsors deserve credit for getting such an event off the ground and having the vision to help it grow.

The AIMS Games may be a fantastic opportunity to showcase our region to the huge number of supporters who accompany the teams but its true worth is as an event that provides exciting and valuable experience for our young sportspeople.

The ASB arena was packed on Sunday night for the events opening ceremony, at which New Zealand basketballer Dylan Boucher was the guest speaker.

He urged those competing to set their sights high and said they had the potential to make it to the top of their sport.

"Some of the people in this room are already the next Tall Black ... and the All Blacks of the future," he said.

This week these future sporting stars will be pitting their skills against each other - seeking success as individuals and representing their schools. They will learn about teamwork and good sportsmanship and hopefully it will encourage them to follow Boucher's advice on setting their sights on a future goal in their chosen sport.

We often hear about young people making the wrong choices in life or of the challenges they face in a rapidly changing world.

It is important we do not forget the vast majority of young people are doing well and the NZCT AIMS Games provide a platform to celebrate this fact.

The sense of pride instilled by these type of events and the values they promote flow well beyond the sports field.