In today’s ANI Guild we have the following:
● Daffodil Day!
● ANI Electives
● Minds in Action
● The Ki-O-Rahi Craze
● EPRO8
● ANI sings loud and proud
● The Netball Game of the Millenia
● Mathex
● A day of wonder
● CZ Speeches
● Rehu Tai
● AIMS rundown
Daffodil Day
Daffodil Day was during Week 6, on a Friday of course! It is celebrated every year in New Zealand and organised by the NZ Cancer Society to help support those struggling with cancer. Did you know that every 1 in 3 New Zealanders have some form of cancer? This is why Daffodil Day is so important and crucial, despite it having a fun name.
So why else would there be an article about this – unless ANI did something for this special and rare occasion! This year ANI chose to hold a Mufti Day – but not just any ordinary Mufti Day! This one you were supposed to wear as much yellow as possible!
The school was filled with a sea of yellow. From tutus to face paint galore. It was a sight to behold. Even though it was an important day, school life seemed to go on as usual – SPEC classes for the Matai team, and the normal set of routines for the rest. We had a special assembly for Daffodil Day where staff shared why this day was so important to them. We were all dressed in striking yellow to honour the friends, family and those fighting the battle. It was unmissable.
A gold coin was donated by each student wearing yellow or mufti, and our student leaders collected them.
We got the announcement later in the day, in Period 4. Quite a shock to have an announcement of fundraising rather than the usual repetitive ‘So and so, someone heads to the office with your bags’. But after the infinitely long blathering. The question was, “How much money did ANI actually raise?”
Well, turns out we did quite well, not quite well but extraordinarily well! We raised over $1000. You could do a lot with that amount of money! Just think of the amount of people we could support!
But overall, it was a successful day for the school and the students who helped out with Daffodil Day, and as a bonus, got to wear comfy (but definitely yellow) clothing for the whole day!
Written by: Avni
Edited by: Selene, Leo and Zachary
ANI Electives
Spec 2.0
As ANI’s AIMS teams departed from Auckland Normal Intermediate, they took some of our precious and invaluable teachers with them, which would leave much of the school in a split class. So that’s why the school decided to make the AIMS electives.
Each individual student had to submit 3 elective subjects that they would like to do and ranked their first, second, and third option. These student-chosen electives would hold a certain number of people within each group, and students would do a set of activities chosen and overseen by a teacher. The options ranged from baking, investigating our very own universe, to just chilling with a book (or a computer) in the library. With a total of 21 different activities to choose from, students had many opportunities to do something they enjoyed.
While our athletes represented our school at Tauranga, the rest of us enjoyed our fun activities and spent the second block every day for electives. Imagine a block of SPEC every single day! Now, most electives were fun and calming, such as Zen Zone, where you spent the block doing origami or mindfulness.
On the contrary, the ‘solve-a-mystery-elective’, run by Detective Clue ( AKA Mrs. Brodie ), had to find out who Mr. Gleeson’s kidnapper was. That’s right, Mr. Gleeson was kidnapped! Now here’s an insight on what they found, and who the culprit was.
“We found out from the security footage that Mr. Gleeson’s kidnapper was in fact a staff member at ANI, and wore the black ANI hoodie. After using more clues, such as Mr Gleeson’s scarf, we then interviewed teachers using the good cop, bad cop technique. We soon narrowed it down to 7 suspects: Mrs Etzine, Mrs Smith, Mr Wilson, Matua Steve, Mrs O Sullivan, Mrs Zhai, and Mr Pocock. After extensive research, we found out that Mr Wilson was the culprit! He had kidnapped him because Mr Wilson feared Mr Gleeson as a rival in the staff talent show, thus kidnapping Mr Gleeson to stop him from the talent show. After we discovered the truth, we shipped Mr Gleeson to AIMS, where he mysteriously arrived on Friday at Tauranga.”
From Mrs. Brodie
Overall, the electives were a fun experience, and allowed us to enjoy the special week of AIMS. But we still missed our friends and teachers!
Maaz, Kushell and William
Minds in Action
Our ANI Tournament of Minds team has dedicated themselves to preparing a creative presentation for the judges. Over the course of six weeks, our remarkable teams have collaborated to hone their presentation skills, produce props, tackle their chosen challenge, and craft an extraordinary performance. One team, ‘Leading to TOMorrow’, and another, ‘The TOMatoes’, have been chosen to compete. These teams have each chosen a category among Language Literature, Social Sciences, STEAM, and the Arts. The ‘TOMatoes’ chose Language Literature, while ‘Leading to TOMorrow’ opted for Social Sciences.
The Auckland regional competition occurred on August 31st, with dozens of schools competing. During which, the teams were asked to present our six-week ‘Long-Term’ challenge, which they have dedicated major amounts of time to, and show their logical thinking in a swift ‘spontaneous’ challenge. The two challenges were designed for the team to show their critical thinking and creativity and were worth equal points to each other.
The six-week challenge involved the selection of a category, as said before, and the teams were to work vigorously on the requirements of the challenge, presenting their findings in a creative play-like manner. During the six-week challenge, there is a crucial rule that participants must adhere to – no outside assistance is allowed. This means that individuals outside of your team are not permitted to provide any ideas, explanations, or guidance related to your team’s challenge. This rule can be quite challenging for competitors, as generating ideas in isolation can be extremely difficult. Essentially, participants are presented with a challenge and must devise a solution within the context of a play. (The specific details of the challenge cannot be disclosed as they are protected by copyright.)
Following the longer challenge, the teams participated in a ‘spontaneous’ challenge, which tested the teams’ quicker thinking skills. The challenge involved an open-ended question which the teams were given four minutes to work on. Their solution would then be presented in a one-minute time period, being judged on the teams’ creativity, logical thinking and presentation skills.
In conclusion, the Tournament of Minds has been an incredible journey for all our teams involved. The dedication, hard work, and creativity displayed by our teams have been truly inspiring. We are proud of the effort put forth by ‘Leading to Tomorrow’ and ‘The TOMatoes’, and we look forward to seeing the results of their efforts. This experience has not only tested their skills but also strengthened their bond as a team. We are grateful for the opportunity for them to take part and look forward to ANI participating again next year.
Written by William
Edited by Leo, William and Yume
Photos by William
The Ki-O-Rahi Craze
As the scorching sun shone across the field, our Ki-O-Rahi players were excited and ready to play Maori’s version of Rippa Rugby.
We were glad that the weather had cleared since week 9 and sadly we couldn’t do it on Maori Language Week because it was pouring down that week.
It was Matai vs Rimu and Kauri vs Totara. The Matai team were ILE 2/3, Rimu was ILE 13/14, Kauri was 23/24ABC and Totara was Hub Tahi.
Then came the time. It was 9:30, we started counting down from 10. Our students were buzzing with excitement.
There were 2 games going at once, so it was really hard to focus and concentrate on one game. Whilst they were playing, DJ Mrs T and Mrs Brodie played songs through the speaker to give some energy. Everyone was having fun watching and listening to the music.
Once it was half-time, all anyone could think of was what the scores were. Each half was 7 minutes long, so it was really quick. The score for Matai vs Rimu was 5-5 at half-time and Kauri vs Totara’s score was 11-1 at half-time.
When we had our 1-minute break, all teams huddled together to talk about their team tactics and strategies. Once we had finished with our pep talk, it was showtime again.
You could definitely tell that they were playing better. With the help of the crowd cheering on, the players were pumped into it.
The year 8 game was very intense as both of their teams had really good players. The year 7 game, on the other hand, was a clear win to Totara. They had already surpassed Kauri’s score by far, and continued on to win the year 7 match by a very large margin.
At full time, the score for year 7 was 21-1 to Totara and for year 8, the score was 10-7 to Matai. Rimu and Kauri were devastated with their results. Here are some players who reflected on their game:
RJ: It was a surreal experience and I would definitely want to play again if I had the chance. The game was really intense and I loved every single moment.
Aariz: I believe the game was tough, and was hard on our players. However, we showed resilience and pushed through and bagged the win! Ki-O-Rahi is an amazing game which I would definitely love to play again sometime in the near future.
Overall, it was great to see everyone so engaged and focused in a game of Ki-O-Rahi, everyone had a wonderful time.
Written by Sohum K
Edited by RJ & Griffin
EPRO8
Time to get wet-ish!
The ultimate opportunity for all budding engineers has made its arrival! Entries into the challenge flooded through – evidence of the eager community in our school. During the first appearance of the sign-up form, almost anyone you talked to was in EPRO8 (no offence to the teachers – EPRO8 was often mispronounced!)
But on the day the challenge was posted, several teams began to pull out. The pressure was just too much!
Engineers were asked to create a working water tower with controlled water flow. The water had to be able to be distributed between two different houses/buildings. However, the idea of creating the requested water tower with working pumps was just too complex.
However, a few talented engineers worked tirelessly to create their engineering masterpieces. Sometimes this masterpiece would go terribly wrong…
The Water Tower was just the preliminary challenge. On Monday the 5th september and Friday 9th of September , the winners of the preliminary challenge competed against each other to move on to the Interschool championships.
Using special EPRO8 kits, the teams had the choice to construct different contraptions – including the “Queen’s Throne”, “Puppet Show” and “Buzzy Bee”. These kept the teams busy for two-thirds of the day, creating and thinking – the ultimate school engineering competition.
Now, for those who don’t know, here’s a little insight on what EPRO8 is…
EPRO8 is an inter-school competition which promotes STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) and encourages up to 25,000 students from around New Zealand to solve problems with critical thinking, problem-solving, and innovation. Teams participate in a series of preliminary events within their schools. The qualifying teams from the preliminary rounds advance to another round of internal school competition and the winners from the school competition go to interschools.
Lastly, for those competing, there are 14 places available. Out of 24 teams, there is sure to be a lot of competition for the well respected final teams. Good luck to those competing, and happy engineering!
Written by Leo, Griffin, and Kushaell
Edited by Leo and Selene
Photos by Kushaell and Leo
ANI sings loud and proud
ANI Kids Sing Choir
The ANI Kids Sing Choir went over to the Holy Trinity Cathedral to perform for the Kids Sing, a competition for schools!
Although we weren’t professionally entering the competition, it was a great opportunity to show off what we’ve been practising and how well our singing skills are in front of 11 other choirs. Since we didn’t do this last year, it was a new experience for all of us, Year 7 and Year 8!
It was a pretty chill van ride over to the cathedral. We arrived around half an hour early so we got to hang around and talk while we waited and waited and waited for what was to come. Upon arrival, the cathedral looked quite grand and everyone was filled with nervousness and excitement. We headed inside and took our seats as other schools filled in: Kings, The Cloud Competition choir, TNIS, Baradene and two other schools. The cathedral itself looked majestic and the coloured panes showed light clearly throughout the large room.
Compared to all these other choirs, we were the smallest but that didn’t stop us from performing well! Boringly, we went down a huge, long flight of stairs to a room where we took a break to visit the restroom before moving on to a rehearsal room.
Once that was over, we had a chance to practice the 2 songs we were going to sing in the daytime dress rehearsal (Titanium and Te Rahu Tapu a Tane).
We ascended up to the stage, lining up in our 3 allocated rows and waiting for our cue from Ms Smith to start. It was a heartwarming experience, to say the least. Then, to have a rest before coming back inside the cathedral, we got to have a 15-minute lunch break and posed for a nice picture near the fountain.
This is when we finished up by watching the last mind-blowing performances.
In the evening, all of us were able to attend the Gala concert! Essentially, we got to watch even more choirs (mostly Primary) and then closer to the end everyone sang O Rushing Wind. It sounded wonderful and very powerful!
Since we were just a feedback choir, we sent two people from our choir to head up and collect our certificate. Overall, I think this was a great experience for all of us, Ms Smith and Ms Purchase included. Thank you so much!
Maybe next year, a new wave of excited new year 7’s can join our choir for another joyful experience in Kids Sing.
Written By: Avni
Edited By: RJ, Zachary, Raafey
Photos By: Ms Purchase and Ms Smith
The Netball Game of the Millenia
Awais S
As the lunch bell rang, students rushed out of their classrooms and raced to the shade sail to watch a netball game. THE netball game of the era! The two contestants were Team ANI staff versus the ANI AIMS netball squad. The staff lineup was Mr Cadelis, Matua Steve, Mr Wilson, Mr Houston, Mrs Smith, Mr T and Mr Pocock.
The atmosphere was intense as the countdown for the first whistle. As the whistle rang out, the AIMS centre started with a centre pass but got intercepted by Mr Houston. What a massive surprise. In a flash Mr Cadelis had got the ball and scored a wonder goal from the top of the circle. The score rocketed up and while the timer went ticking down. Down, until the shrill whistle blew – the first quarter had ended. Both teams were (already?) extremely exhausted. But neither gave up. Each end was discussing strategies and effective plays.
BEEP, the 2nd quarter began. Mr Houston passed the ball. BOOM – a flashy intercept by the ANI Goal Defense. Players were sweaty and looked like they were running a marathon in the sun. The ball kept moving, changing direction; if you saw it moving one way, the next second it would be intercepted and going the other. Mr Cadelis brought attention to himself as he scored another wonder goal, but the ANI team kept their heads up. Though it seemed that all was lost – slam! In came a lovely goal from the ANI goal shooter! There was newfound hope for the ANI team, hope that can save them from a loss.
Half time. This time our fellow ANI netballers looked even more serious than before because they didn’t want to suffer a loss. Miss Hughes, their coach, was giving the pep speech of the year to the netballers.
“Keep your head high girls, we can do this. JUST KEEP PUSHING THROUGH!” – Miss Hughes. Up went a cheer and off they went.
Everyone was tired, and the crowd was wild, hoping to find a thrilling outcome for the game. The AIMs team was just getting started, the staff knew they were in big trouble. Intercept to a goal the cycle just went on and on. Things were looking good for the girls, not so much for the staff (they were beyond exhausted) – until the shrill whistle blew to mark the end of the 3rd quarter.
At the start of the final quarter, the hopeful match outcome was (unofficially) decided, everyone knew (hoped) that the ANI team was going to win. But Mr Houston, Mr Cadelis and Matua Steve said no. They weren’t going to lose without a fight. And they did, that trio scored so many goals we could barely count. “Fweet! – and that ladies and gentlemen, that marks the end of this year’s awesome match.
Wait, what was the score? WAS NO ONE SCORING? Well, that was a huge disappointment. Well I guess that’s the fun of it, the phantom score and the game of the millennia.”
Unfortunately, the score has remained unknown, but one thing is known – the unbeatable spirit (and gameplay) of ANI!
Written by Selene
Edited by Leo
Mathex
Quick in your mind, quick with your legs!
On Thursday 22nd of August, 4 amazing teams competed in the Mathex challenge, against 96 other teams. They had a fantastic night in the Barfoot and Thompson Stadium and they did very well. The four Year 7 and 8 teams were as follows:
Year 7 A: Wilson L, Ruzaan D, Leo S, Jin Tian W
Year 7 B: Zoe Z, Yume F, Narah C, Kotoha K
Year 8 A: Lucas C, Sreshtha C, Thomas Ito R, Valie N
Year 8 B: William F, Blake N, Hilda L, Katherine X
The ANI teams did very well using their brains, calculators, and of course, two pairs of feet!
Both the Year 7 teams and one Year 8 team scored 90 points with 2 questions remaining, and the last Year 8 team scored 75 points with 5 questions left. Everyone worked hard, and of course, had loads of fun.
Here is a little explanation of Mathex for those of you who don’t know:
There is one runner in each team of four. The teams have to go to the marker who is the person with all of the answers to the questions. Every question the students get correct is worth 5 points. There are 20 questions in total, and every question is harder than the last one. Once the team comes up with an answer, the runner runs around the cone to get it marked. If it is correct, they get to move on to the next question which their marker will give them. If it is incorrect, the team can either skip the question, or keep trying. You have to do all of this in 30 minutes. That is not a lot of time for 20 (hard) questions!
Overall, the atmosphere of the stadium was contrary to what math should really sound like.
The thundering rhythm of running feet continuously pounded, and quiet chatter between teams filled the rare silent moments.
Written by Yume
Edited by Leo
Photos by Miss Hodder
A day of wonder
Archaeology, History, Art and Culture… A Trip to Auckland Museum!
For many, it was the usual blue Monday. But for Hub Rua, and later Hub Tahi, the dreary start had evolved into an enticing day filled with wonder. As the crammed buses had pulled out, the atmosphere had already blended into a bus full of chatterboxes. But this chatterbox theme was not to happen at the Auckland War Memorial Museum…
The cold Monday breeze whirled as 100 people flooded into the outside foyer, pillars seeming to reach up into the sky. Gazing out upon the beautiful harbour and towering memorials, students and teachers streamed into the astonishing building—first, a brief overview of the various activities ahead.
When Totara went, a special exhibition was being held at Auckland Museum. LEGO RELICS was the main star of the show – it included a rich backstory! Many years after the catastrophic mass extinction of humankind, long lost? LEGO minifigures rose up among the relics left behind by humans. From the towers of the city, to the serene beaches, LEGO civilisations rose and thrived among the ruined artefacts.
Pacific Origins and Archaeology were the main attractions during the trip, we had two experts in the area talk to us about the various artefacts and findings. Treasured artefacts were then handed around, including a flute made out of the extinct Haast Eagle bone, a large chunk of obsidian, and the foot bone of a Moa. These kept us occupied for a while – until a traditional hand drill was passed around for students to test and figure out how to use it!
‘The “Lapita” people were Homo Erectus/Sapiens who spread through the Pacific Islands. Their place of origin is most likely to be modern-day Taiwan or China. Remains of intricate pottery have been found everywhere west of Samoa. there is evidence suggesting that Polynesians settled in New Zealand after settling in South America, making it the last land to be discovered.’
Of course, no school trip can be complete without a bit of downtime. The 3D movie was watched with a lot of enthusiasm, as were the ‘fancy glasses’. The film illustrated the immense effort going into the conservation of the hundreds of atolls and archipelagos, a 3D movie about ‘desert islands’ caught many people’s attention. The word ‘downtime’ also includes the essential and deserved lunch time…
Of course, no museum trip is complete without your very own exploration of the vast building. 95% of the 90 students in the Hub chose to explore the world of Weird and Wonderful, and only four chose to visit the top floor! Wow, what a lot of diversity in choices! The much-loved Volcanoes Exhibition earned a lot of visits during the waiting time, especially the Simulation House (though some would probably not go there again, I wonder why?).
Overall, the awesome trip to the wondrous Auckland War Memorial Museum has been a big highlight for Totara! (P.S There’s more to come)
Written by Leo
Edited by Selene
Photos by Mr Wilson
CZ Speeches
Persuade the People
Another day at ANI – life goes on as usual…
But of course, I’m not writing this simply to inform you about our regular school day- this is to tell you about another event! On September 5th – a Thursday – ANI sent our winning student of the school speech competition to the Speech Central Zones! That student was Flynn Woolcott. His speech was about why Disney is bad, just to refresh your memory. 😀
The event took place over at Ponsonby Intermediate, a school with roughly around 500 students. So not quite as large as ANI, but close. We were some of the first to arrive, but soon enough the other 6 contestants showed up. The Competition kicked off at 1:30 pm, and Ponsonby Intermediate had two students lead what must have seemed like a normal assembly to the crowd of students piled on the bleachers.
The first contestant came up to the front – from Pasadena Intermediate – Tessa! An intriguing speech about… Preppers? I had never even heard that term until that day.
Turns out that it means people who take things to the very extreme preparing for some sort of Doomsday. Huh. I mean, I’m worried about a doomsday too probably, but I’m not heading into the mountains just for that! Next up was ANI – with Flynn. A controversial topic as I’m sure my fellow students remember. Disney being bad? Almost unthinkable! Or is it?
Repeating storylines, them being plain broke, bad quality… I can see the flaws here.
But onto the next few – Jack from Ponsonby, a speech about useless animals. Pigeons especially. There was an interesting twist at the end, claiming that us humans are real monsters. Similarly, but more focused on a specific problem with humans, the 4th contestant was Charlie from Kowhai Intermediate with a passionate speech about climate change.
Then Shenvika from Remuera Intermediate spoke about pet rocks. Hmm, a good choice for a tidy pet.
Next was Justin from Mount Roskill Intermediate discussing a well-known topic – the fact that we might be in a video game simulation. And last but certainly not least, Samirah from Royal Oak Intermediate told us about why neurosurgeons are important. After hearing her facts, I think I agree.
While the judges deliberated, we got a chance to watch a bit of what the otherworldly school aliens call ‘PPTV’ , essentially news about the school, for around 15 minutes.
Once that was over the winners were announced – Charlie and Jack with Highly Commendeds and Tessa winning the event!
The judges mentioned that everyone was confident, and I think ANI did a great job sending Flynn to this event.
A cool chance to watch some examples of speeches from other schools – and even if ANI didn’t quite win this time, we’ll be sure to send someone to beat ‘em next year!
Written by: Avni
Edited by: Leo and Griffin
Photos by: Miss Chowdhury
Rehu Tai
The Aspects of Unity
This term has already been filled with countless events – but now we are also adding the recent Speech Central Zones to ANI’s many sporting achievements.
But in this event, only 2 students went to participate. Quite an exciting one indeed for both of the chosen students – Millie (Y7) & Nusayba (Y8) – and an interesting one as well.
Rehu Tai! This was held at Kowhai Intermediate to determine which of these competitors from several intermediate schools would move on to the finals.
We arrived there a bit early – but it soon started at 1:40pm in their school hall. Not all the school was called to this mini assembly, although there were more than enough students as an audience.
Rehu Tai is both a speech and spoken word competition. I had never heard of it before I went along as a journalist on Friday, Week 7. This year’s topic was a wide one- Unity.
It was fascinating to watch! There were 8 contestants in total that day, and I heard mention of one being away, but that wasn’t a problem.
Two students from Balmoral went up to start the competition – Marium first, then Violet. Intriguing speeches – one about the impact of our friends and the other about social media.
Then, finally, ANI’s time to shine!
Millie came up to the stage to speak about the ‘Race to Space’. I’ve never heard someone speak about it before, but she somehow made it into an impactful and meaningful speech. You could tell she was passionate about doing this.
And then our Year 8 competitor – Nusayba! She didn’t choose a specific topic – instead, she focused on the entire topic – Unity! Quotes from people to emphasize, and a great way of phrasing things.
Expressive and confident – both of ANI’s students did well!
Charlie from Kowhai Intermediate went last – speaking about climate change. She had done the same speech the day before for Speech CZs, but managed to convey the same passionate energy.
But the event wasn’t over just yet – it was time for the second part of Rehu Tai – the ‘Spoken Word’.
Let’s be honest, I hadn’t heard of spoken word before as well. It turns out it’s a type of poetry – but you tell a meaningful and impacting story, using rhyme and repetition. It has a smooth flow to it.
4 contestants again – with Lucy and Harper from Kohia Terrace speaking about topics already covered- but in a different way. Social media and unity.
Empowering – from the repetition to the passionate words.
Still, there were 2 more to go – Willow & Aroha Rose Te Aui from Kowhai Intermediate. The former spoke about feeling disconnected from both cultures Pakeha & Maori, the latter speaking about how honour has to be given back to the Maori. It doesn’t sound like much by describing their spoken word in writing, but in person, it really was something to behold.
While we waited for the judges to deliberate, Kowhai Intermediate’s Kapa Haka performed a few waiata(songs).
Soon and suddenly it was time for the announcement of who the judges had chosen.
From the Spoken Word, Harper achieved Highly Commended and Willow won.
And now… drumroll please!
Highly Commended went to Charlie, but the student who won was… Nusayba!
She’ll move on to the finals of Rehu Tai – I’m not sure when it is, but I’m sure she’ll do just as great as she did that day. Millie also did an amazing job – and for her, there’s always next year!
A shout out to Ms Chowdhury – she organized Rehu Tai of course, good job helping those two.
A great day for both of the contestants, and another thing added to ANI’s accomplishments.
Written by Avni
Edited by Leo
Photos by Ms Chowdhury
AIMS rundown
AIMS: Where Athletes Shine
DAY 1 - OPENING CEREMONY
As we entered the Bayfair Mercury Maypark Stadium, the crowd was erupting with cheers and screaming. All of the seats at the stadium were full with the many sports kids competing at the Zespri AIMS Games for 2024. Once they dimmed the lights, the crowd went eerily silent, awaiting the cacophony of noise that was to come. We started off with the kapa haka, which was astounding to watch. Goosebumps were alight on every arm in the room. They had performed wonderfully.
After that, we had 2 lovely students come up on stage to lead the national anthem. Once we had finished with that, our host came up on stage and introduced himself. He had the stadium pumped and excited to begin the 2024 AIMS Games with encouraging words. As if he needed to! The jitters and joy have been building for months now. We also found out that a staggering 13000 players were to compete at the AIMS Games- and it was also the most players in history. Incredible.
Adding to that, did you know that there were only 10700 players at the Paris Olympics 2024? So this was bigger than this year’s Olympics!
After that we had our Prime Minister Christopher Luxon come up to the stage! We were shocked to see him here in Tauranga, but that’s how you know that this is not just a normal competition. It’s a truly astounding feat that hundreds of people have come together to organise.
Then we had a former Olympian and the new Tauranga mayor Mahe Drysdale come up to the stage too. We were all so fizzing with excitement that the screams could be heard from miles around. ANI was ready to compete.
The Mount was pumped with adrenaline as we entered the 2024 AIMS games.
GIRLS FUTSAL
Futsal is now in their third day of the AIMS Games, so you’d think that these players would be exhausted. But not to fear, these resilient players have shown nothing but strength and humility as they’ve gone from game to game.
Their day started on Saturday the 7th at 5am and they had already played 11 games between both the girls and boys team, but today, all the girls showed was their eagerness and their fire.
A game against Pukekohe Intermediate showed the spectators exactly what ANI was made of. They were pushed and prodded to the very edge but the girls stood tall, proud and played their hearts out. It was frustrating for both their coach and manager as they sat on the sidelines and watched the girls play.
Pukekohe showed no mercy and the girls lost the battle 2-0. The game was hard fought and it was with heavy hearts that they walked away from the pitch. A stunning game played in the end, solved (almost) by ice creams all round.
BOYS FUTSAL
After playing 6 games over the weekend the Boys Futsal team left their hearts and bodies out on the court on Saturday and Sunday. After a break overnight the boys were well rested and ready to tear up the court today at Baypark.
They got off to a fantastic start, netting a quick goal within the first minute. By half time we had a tit-for-tat half and it ended 4-2. The boys were feeling a little nervous going into the second half but knowing they were ahead, puffed their chests out and took to the court to carry on. A grounded and supportive team talk from their charismatic leader, Awais, added fuel to the fire. The boys came out guns blazing and put another 3 goals in with no reply from the opposition.
Jaithra and Malik both netted hat tricks and the whole team was fizzing after winning 7-2. Nevi had made some mind-blowing saves during that game as well. Nevi was so superior that whenever they tried to shoot, he would block the ball.
DAY 2 - SQUASH
Once I had reached the squash Sports Centre, all you could hear was the ball hitting the wall aggressively. Thevan G was practising for his upcoming match against Shaun from ACG Parnell.
As they were practising, our Boys & Girls Futsal teams were cheering him on. Then game time where he was about to shine.
Thevan had started off with a lovely serve to get going with the match. Thevan wasn’t missing any of his shots and he was making it hard for Shaun. He was hitting the ball so abruptly on the wall. Squash had 3 sets and Thevan had surpassed all of them. He was playing spectacularly. Thevan had progressed towards round 4.
We wished Thevan good luck
RIPPA
After I had viewed Squash, I ran straight over to Rippa where they were going to play against Flaxmere Primary School. We had already won all our previous games. The moment we started, Jessie ran across the field and scored a try. ANI had already scored a try in the first 10 seconds,so we were off to an exceptional start.
Straight after that, Dane had tackled one of the players from Flaxmere and ran to the other end to score a try. We were 2-0. Shortly after that, we had many tries which were scored by Siah, Jessie, Isabel and Gunnar. It was 6-0 at half-time. We still weren’t overconfident. We had our heads up even though we knew we were going to win.
It was just after the second half when Aila had scored our seventh try. After Aila’s tries, Dane had scored 2 tries which made him get a wonderful hat-trick. We were quite impressed with Dane’s performance. Just a few minutes later, Gunaar had scored another try. Now we were at 10-0. When Flaxmere were about to score, Isabel grabbed the ball aggressively and ran across the entire field, out running everyone. She was running as fast as a cheetah. No one could catch up to her. It was INSANE!
Just after that, Isabel had scored another try. Finally, just before full-time, Gemma had done the same thing as Isabel. She had outran everyone. Once the full-time whistle blew, we were jumping up and down. We were over the moon with the result! It was an outstanding performance by the Rippa Team and we are so proud of you!
BOYS FOOTBALL
As the scorching sun shone across the field, ANI approached the halfway mark and with a swift whistle the game began. With their supporters on the sidelines screaming chants, showing the ANI spirit that courses through our veins. The beautiful gameplay showed exactly that. Beautifully. The boys had a tough start with the opponents scoring a strong goal which should have shaken ANI. But all they did was pull themselves up by their bootstraps and put the pressure back on their opponents. It went to the point that even the parents were getting flustered, arguing about where players off the pitch were standing.
The second half couldn’t come quickly enough with Te Puke scoring 2 goals in the first half and Matthew Bills scoring just before the half-time whistle blew. Just after the second half with a wonderful outside box goal, Zach had shot the ball and it just barely missed the goal. Dempsey made impressive saves. Zach had scored the second goal and it was also outside the box. We had made an amazing comeback having just been down two and the end of the first half. Finally, the game had ended with the score being 2-2. It was a very exciting and energetic game.
DAY 3 - NETBALL
As the sunshine gleamed across the Netball courts, our Netball team arrived at court 12 to where we would be playing against TKKM o Nga Uri a Maui.
Once we arrived, we started with our warmups. We first started with fast feet on the spot and then clapped and jumped and then sprinted across the court. Once we finished with that, we started with some stretches.
To finish off with our warm-ups, we had some shooting practices. It was 9:05 AM when we had finally started our match. Just a minute after we started, we had scored a point. We were all really good with our passing skills. Then TKKM o Nga Uri a Maui had scored a point. At this point, it was 1-1.
Almost right after that, we scored 2 points back to back. This was going to be an interesting game. Both of us were great on offence and defence. Then Marizé scored a point. Immediately after, Marizé had scored another point. Once Marizé had scored that point,there were mere seconds before the 1st quarter had finished. The score was 5-1 to us.
Once the whistle blew for the second quarter, TKKM o Nga Uri a Maui had instantly scored a point. But we scored 2 points straight after that. This game was going back and forth. We had scored 9 points in the second quarter and they had scored 6.
After the second quarter, the score was 15-7. We were all really good with our passing. After a quick pep talk with Miss Hughes, we were back and running for the remaining 2 quarters. But the third quarter was a really low-scoring quarter. We had only scored 7 points and they had scored 2 points. It was 22-9.
We knew that we were going to win but that didn’t make us overconfident. They were a very good team. In the last quarter, we scored 6 points and they scored 4 points. The full-time score was 28-13. It was a hard-fought game and they were really good.
GIRLS FOOTBALL
As we entered the pitch, all the girls could think about was if they were going to win. The atmosphere was filled with a variety of emotions.
Our girls were going to try and get into the top 8 teams of NZ. If they would win this, they would go through to the next round.
We were playing against North Cross Intermediate. It was 1:35 PM when the referee asked us to get on the pitch. Once the referee blew the whistle, Havana instantly started to try and grab the ball. We put a lot of pressure on them since we were desperate to win. We had won the ball many times in past matches and we were really good in possession. Whenever we won the ball, we would always try and shoot the ball. Havana had shot many times and had barely missed the post in this match. We were great at both defending and offence. However, North Cross was really good as well.
Unfortunately, North Cross had scored a goal. Everyone was sad but Mr G was screaming on the sideline saying “Keep your heads up. Don’t give up!” Just 10 minutes later, North Cross had scored again. This was a really tough match. But we still didn’t give up.
We kept on trying even though it was a tough game. The half-time whistle blew and the score was 2-0. Mr G and Miss Dillion had a pep talk with all the girls. We didn’t want to lose at all. The second half had started and we were definitely better than the first half. We could clearly tell the difference after their pep talk. It had motivated them. Valentina had shot the ball beautifully but it had just scantily missed the post.
Sadly, North Cross had again scored a goal. As the full-time whistle blew, some of our girls were disappointed with the result. It was an intense game and they fought really hard. Even though they lost, they still managed to progress to the top 8! Here are some memorable quotes from the team:
– Mr G: “Making ANI history. Tired but so proud of the girls.”
– Katherine: “I feel like the game wasn’t our best. But we are all excited and pumped for our next game and exceed and try our best for top 8 no matter what the result is.”
