Henk Popping, co-creator of the Zespri AIMS Games and principal of Otumoetai Intermediate, was supposed to be sitting in a conference at Wairakei. Instead, he and the principal of Taradale Intermediate had slipped out to the car park.

It was 2004 and Otumoetai was playing Taradale in the very first AIMS Games hockey final. Henk's son was in the hockey team.

'The Taradale principal and I were standing outside the Wairakei resort while the conference was on, both of us getting feedback from our teachers on how it was going,” says Henk. 'It got to a penalty shootout. We're looking at each other. And that was the first year.”

It's unthinkable now that an intermediate principals conference would be scheduled at the same time as the AIMS Games. In 2004 though, the attitude was that 'the AIMS Games was just this fledgling little thing and who cares, we'll still have our conference,” says Henk.

Henk and Tauranga Intermediate principal Brian Driver had created the AIMS Games to promote intermediate schools at a time when some intermediates around the country were being closed. They had been to a conference where one of the speakers urged intermediate principals to promote their schools or else face potential closure.

'We were talking about this afterwards, what could we do to promote intermediate schools?” says Henk. 'Both our schools are quite sporty - not intense rivalry but we like to have each other on - so we said wouldn't it be good if we could set up a sports tournament and have the best of our kids playing the best of other schools?”

Zespri AIMS Games. Photo: Dave Lintott.

That first tournament was co-hosted by the four local intermediates: Tauranga, Otumoetai, Mount Maunganui and Te Puke. Seventeen schools participated with 760 competitors playing just four sports: football, netball, hockey and cross country.

Fast forward to 2022 and the Zespri AIMS Games will see 323 schools and almost 11,000 students competing across 23 sports.

For Henk, the scale of it really started to hit home in 2011 when the opening ceremony had to move to the Trustpower Arena.

'Instead of one opening ceremony we had to have two lots of 5,000 people. And it suddenly hits you, gosh, this is something really big.”

For many children the Zespri AIMS Games will be the only opportunity they get to compete in a national tournament.

'Take netball for example, there are 120 netball teams. They're not just playing their regular local teams or clubs, they're playing people from all over the country,” says Henk.

'They get a massive thrill out of it,” says Daryl Gibbs, principal of Cambridge Middle School and vice president of the New Zealand Association of Intermediate and Middle Schooling (NZAIMS).

'You go to the AIMS Games and the feel of that week is so different to any other tournament. It has a great blend of children wanting to be competitive and other children who are wanting to have the experience of a lifetime.”

Zespri AIMS Games. Photo: Dave Lintott.

The Zespri AIMS Games are now on par with the Olympic Games in terms of athlete numbers. In fact, the 2019 games had more athletes than the 2016 Rio Olympics. It's a massive undertaking that requires a full year of planning and logistics, delivered locally by the AIMS Games Trust.

Henk stresses that the city council's support has been vital to the ongoing success of the games. Sport Bay of Plenty and local media have also been essential partners from the beginning. It was radio personality Brian Kelly who suggested that the name ‘AIMS Games' might roll off the tongue better than the original clunker, NZ Association of Intermediate Schools National Sports Tournament.

The games have grown into a unique event in the nation's sporting calendar that has well and truly put intermediate schools in the limelight.

This year, 2022, marks 100 years since the first intermediate school opened in New Zealand.

But what makes intermediate schools so special? Henk and Daryl both point to brain development.

'You're dealing with emerging adolescence,” says Henk. 'Neuroscience tells us these kids are going through a significant process. I love the age group. It comes with challenges but also rewards. Intermediate schools are exciting places to be.”

Zespri AIMS Games. Photo: Jamie Troughton.

Daryl Gibbs says that adolescence is one of two stages in life, along with early childhood, where the brain is undergoing its biggest changes.

'If you look at neuroscience research, those are the two stages where brain development is at its highest. And they're the two areas that are constantly fighting to be acknowledged for funding and for support.”

He says an important benefit of intermediate schooling is the way it introduces specialist teaching while retaining a home teacher for each student.

'At this age they still need a key person. A fundamental belief we have is that they need to know they have a person who has their back, who they trust,” says Daryl.

'If they have a pure secondary timetable where every 50 minutes they're going to another teacher, that wouldn't align with research that says they need strong relationships and connection to thrive.”

Daryl says that job of NZAIMS is to advocate for all children in the years seven to ten, not just intermediates.

'However, when the Zespri AIMS Games started it was about raising the profile of intermediates because they were being closed all over the show.”

So have the Zespri AIMS Games helped save intermediate schools?

'Going back to the start of AIMS, I think they felt they were sitting at the table fighting to keep their place in the system alive. We still have to be the squeaky wheel. But now we're part of the conversation," says Daryl.