There'll be some fairly empty classes at Purua School this week, with six of their seven Year 7 and 8 students all playing squash at the AIMS Games in Tauranga.

The tiny rural school north of Whangarei only has 31 students in total, and nearly a quarter of them are involved in the racquet sport.

The Purua School squash team, from left: Lucia Daamen-Shanahan, Zoe Palmer, Anna Moselen, manager Fiona Moselen, Maris Dalagneau, Genghis Gardes and Anaru Mead. Photo: Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media.

Team manager Fiona Moselen says squash is ideal for students Genghis Gardes, Zoe Palmer, Anaru Mead, Lucia Daamen-Shanahan, Maris Dalagneau and daughter Anna, as the likes of netball and rugby sevens are out of the question.

'Because we are such a small school, we don't really have the numbers to make teams,” she said.

It all started when a squash coach joined the school for 10 weeks as a part of a local sport programme. Since then, interest in the sport has boomed.

And AIMS Games first-timer Genghis Gardes, 12, admits it's now his favourite sport of all.

'When I played rugby, I hardly ever got the ball,” he explains, to the amusement of his teammates.

Another squash enthusiast and fellow 12-year-old Anaru Mead agrees: 'You don't have to give the ball to anyone else, just to people on a court.”

Pururua raised $600 by organising a small squash tournament for juniors to help them get to this year's AIMS Games.

Before heading to the event, the team had extra training every Friday and participated in a few local tournaments to toughen them up.

'Zoe and Anaru both played at AIMS Games last year,” says Fiona, 'so they knew what to expect and were really determined to play this year.

'The others have just been absolute beginners from the start of this year.”