Kelly Schischka: AIMS Games Tournament Director previews the junior sporting event

Tauranga is gearing up to host 14 thousand junior athletes in Australasia's biggest junior sporting event. 

The Zespri AIMS Games have grown every year since 2004 – with 431 schools now competing in 27 sports throughout the week. 

Tournament director Kelly Schischka joined D’Arcy Waldegrave to run through what we can expect throughout the week. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Waldgrave from newstalk ZEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
And we're now going to go to the magnificence of
the Ames Games, the Zesprey Aimes Games. It is a
huge event. It's happening down and toad Oner and we're
joined now by the tournament director, Kelly Sheska. This event
runs right the way through the week. There are live
streams for the opening ceremony, BMX Hip Hop Finals all

(00:35):
go to n Zamesgames dot co dot m Z and
here she is a very good morning to the head
honcho of this massive event of the zespri A Games.
You like the way I put the sponsor in Therekellian,
good morning.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Thanks for having me, Darcy, good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
It's more than big. It's huge, This Aims Games. It's
running for an entire week. Fourteen thousand athletes I think
off the top of my head, twenty seven sports, twenty
nine venues. I don't know how many schools. This is massive.
It's getting bigger, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
It is getting bigger and you now those numbers, well done. Yeah,
so twenty seven Sporting codes, twenty nine venues in Totonga
and the Western Maya twenty fourteen, twenty two athletes from
four hundred and thirty one schools are attending, and we're
so excited to be welcoming them to the city from today.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
We talk to you about logistics every time you come
on the program to talk about it. Is it getting
any easier to manage? Is it getting slightly more streamlined
over the years?

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Yeah, absolutely. And look, one thing about Totonga is the
community are one hundred percent behind being the host city
for the Z three Aims Games, so we're incredibly lucky.
They really do roll out the red capet when everyone arrives.
But yeah, in terms of logistics, you know, it sounds
like a lot, and it is a lot, but it's
also you know, across twenty nine purpose built sports venues,

(01:58):
so you know, we don't have all fourteen thousand athletes
in one place. That's spread across the region, and so
in terms of logistics, of course it's busy. There's lots
of minivans out and about, but you know, it's an
incredible vibe as well.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Not every year you'd pull apart what happened and how
you can do better. I'm presuming I'm not telling you
how to do your job. But out of that, what
just came from last year that maybe you need to
be better at or you can improve at this time round.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yeah, so last year was great. We were incredibly happy
with how the tournament ran last year, so it was
really just about refining things a little bit more so.
We brought two new sports on board to the tournament
last year, surfing and orienteering. There are no new sports
that have been introduced for twenty twenty five. It has
really been about looking at the existing sports, the ones

(02:44):
that are popular. Their programs have been spread across a
few more days in some instances, we've got a couple
of new venues on the network, and you know, we've
introduced some exciting new divisions in some of our sports
as well. So for us, it was really just about
refining what was on off for last year and just
providing more options for athletes that were competing in those
sports already.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
Let's go pub service. A lot of people involved, coming
from all over the motto to be involved in this event,
so people want to know what's happening. Is there a website,
are there any live streams at all? How do people
outside of the district connect with this event.

Speaker 3 (03:19):
Yeah, absolutely, so the website and the app, So the
zy three Aims Games website, Insietams Games, Dot Codes or
n zs. There's lots of information on it. Head to
the news and livestream page on that website. All of
our live streams are free, so we livestream the opening ceremony,
the Hip Hop Finals and BMX as well, so they

(03:41):
are free and you can log on and watch them.
And they're also accessible from the app which is downloadable
insiet Amscams app in the Apple and Google Play stores
as well.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
People going, what do they need to know? As I said,
a lot of people coming. You said, it's quite spread out,
so you've got a high concentration of humanity. But Todranger
not exactly known for its friendly traffic of recent time,
is it. What do people need to know about actually
transporting themselves there?

Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yeah, so plan ahead, give yourself a bit of time.
We do have free loop buses operating between the main
event hubs throughout the week, so you know, hop on
the bus that. Yeah, we do have Just plan a head,
give yourself plenty of time to get there so that
you're not stressing that you're not going to make your game.
Once you arrive at the venues, they're very welcoming. There's

(04:30):
lots of really cool sponsor activations and plenty to do
on site, So arrive early, give the team lots of
time to warm up, have some kai, check out everything
that's going on off the sports field, and yeah, set
yourselves up for success.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
New Zealand is a notorious for turning up to the
stadium five minutes for kickoff then complaining that they can't
get in, So good luck with that one. But we
really hope it works and it should do. One last
thing for you are Kelly, What do you need to
achieve when you look back in fullness at the competition?
What makes you smile? What are your big points that
you can say this has been a huge because of.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
Yeah, so that for us. These are kids year seven
and eight, kids that have been training all year, fundraising
all year. They're here for a week long sleep over
with their friends. It's pretty exciting for them. Our goal,
across every single person that is involved in delivery this
event is just to make sure that these kids have

(05:28):
an incredible experience. So yeah, we want to make sure
that there's a really exciting program for them off the
sports field, that you know they are achieving their own
personal goals on the sports field and that there's opportunities
for them to do that. But yeah, for us, it
is all about that incredible event experience for them. That's
that's our why. Yeah, and that's what we set out
to do year on year.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
So important being a parent, make sure your kids are
smiling and they're enjoying their childhood. Dad's absolutely at the
top of the list for me, and I'm glad that
you guys have embraced that concept too. Always a pleasure,
Kelly at this time of year. Thanks for joining us.
Go well, stay safe, keep smiling.

Speaker 3 (06:03):
Yeah, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
For more from the All Sport Breakfast with Darcy Waltergrave,
listen live to News Talk set B on Saturday mornings,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.