AIMS Games: Charlie Miller from Dargaville is representing a whole school

Charlie Miller chose to tackle mountain biking. Photo / Simon Watts

Not only is he the only one flying the flag for his school at the Zespri AIMS Games, Charlie Miller has travelled almost 400km to be there.

The 12-year-old is Dargaville Intermediate’s sole competitor at this year’s week-long intermediate-age sports tournament in Tauranga.

There are 11,700 participants from 373 schools nationwide and overseas, including Fiji, Samoa and Cook Islands. There are 25 sporting codes to choose from.

Miller chose to tackle mountain biking and said it felt “pretty cool” to be the only one competing for his school, and was hoping to bring news of success back up north.

The Year 8 pupil has been mountain biking for two and a half years, and said he loved the excitement of the sport.

His mum, Tracey Miller, said her son got into mountain biking after a local legend made it possible for the Dargaville community.

“We’re very lucky to have a mountain biker, Sadie Cogan, who is in Dargaville and represented New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games, and that’s how Charlie has been able to get into mountain biking,” she said.

“She owns our local bike shop and runs the mountain bike club for the kids. She fundraised over the last couple of years and built a mountain bike park just out of Dargaville, so it’s very cool for the whole community.”

Charlie Miller has been mountain biking for more than two years, and says he loves the excitement of the sport. Photo / Simon Watts

Miller and his mum made the five-hour trip down together. Even with the rain postponing Charlie’s race on Wednesday, they have been making the most of their time in Tauranga.

“We’re going to go watch a movie — we don’t really have the movies in Dargaville!” Miller said.

“We can hopefully bring some news of success back up north.”

AIMS Games tournament director Kelly Schischka said: “It’s epic having such a wide geographic spread of athletes and they add so much to the flavour of the tournament. Coming by yourself to a tournament this big just shows how committed they are and the memories they will take away will be with them for life.”