Two new codes for AIMS Games 2024

Mount Maunganui

Intermediate student Haru e 11-year-old’s excitement comes on the back of the Zespri AIMS Games announcing it will expand its o erings even further by adding sur ng and orienteering in 2024.

Marsden will make his AIMS debut this September playing football, but next year will swap to sur ng in the weeklong competition in 2024.

“I’m really excited about having sur ng at AIMS – there should be a lot of people there and it will be a really fun atmosphere,” says Haru, who has been sur ng since the age of eight.

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9-11: Te Puna Hall e annual intermediate-aged sporting tournament, which has attracted nearly 12,000 entries for the 2023 edition this September, has recognised the large growth in both sur ng and orienteering, as well as the complementary roles they play in numerous other sports.

Orienteering

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Orienteering Bay of Plenty president Erin Swanson says her club is seeing huge growth in orienteering, both in schools and nationally “so getting it into the Zespri AIMS Games and having it celebrated and recognised as something of a mainstream sport is awesome”. “Orienteering has the physical side of it but it’s also got the mental side – it feels exciting navigating with a map and nding controls.

“ e sense of satisfaction in completing a course is huge, and wider bene ts include building greater resilience, con dence and problem-solving. “You can also do it at all ages and it crosses into a whole lot of other sports – most of the world’s best adventure racers have had some orienteering background.”

On the back of leading Kiwi surfers Billy Stairmand and Sa e Vette recently qualifying for the Paris Olympics in El Salvador, the addition of sur ng to AIMS 2024 is a further boost for the sport.

Bay Boardriders president James Jacobs says with the Zespri AIMS Games hosted in Tauranga, the inclusion of sur ng just makes sense. “We have such a long and proud history of sur ng here in our moana –hosting the rst-ever New Zealand nationals back in 1963 – and we’re surrounded by coastline, with a lot of people who surf. “It’s a great thing the next generation are going to get the opportunity to surf at AIMS Games and represent their school and get a taste for competitive sur ng but there are also a whole lot of great life skills on o er.

“ ings like resilience, determination and selfbelief are all skills you need for competitive sur ng, and with surfers literally eye-level with the water, they become really aware and in tune with the environment.”

Stay relevant

AIMS Games Trust chair Henk Popping says codes put forward compelling cases for inclusion and the tournament is delighted to include them from 2024. “Above all, we want to foster inclusion and participation in all the great sporting options we have out there. We want to stay relevant and re ect the codes our rangitahi are choosing to engage in and sur ng and orienteering will really add to the avour of a magni cent festival of sports.”