The AIMS Games is a tournament-style competition event that gives 11, 12 & 13 year olds an opportunity to compete as an individual or a team against their age in New Zealand and invited countries in 25 codes.

Dio participated in 10 different codes and we are so proud of our girl’s achievements.

Golf
Team Dio golfers showed tremendous skills throughout the three 19-hole courses. Queenie Lang’s impressive round matching part at 72 secured her 6th place out of 32 Year 8 Girls. Teresa Wangs had an exceptional three-course performance, finishing 4 under par, which led her to the top of the Year 8 Girls and impressively top golfer of the tournament. Well done Queenie and Teresa.

Water Polo 
The Dio Jaguars competed at the AIMS games and were consistent throughout the whole week and playing to their potential. The girls came out of the round robin as favourites and had a semi-final vs Baradene to come out with a convincing win. The girls then went to play in the final against a physical Aquinas team and managed to come away with an 8-2 win and a Gold Medal. Congratulations to the Dio Jaguars and the three coaches/managers who were all Diocesan old girls.

Basketball
This year our Basketball team competed at the AIMS games after a few years of not sending a team. This team was filled with eager Year 7’s but what they lacked in age and size they filled with heart and enthusiasm. The girls came away with 15th place which is amazing given it was a Year 7 and 8 tournament and they learnt lots of skills throughout the week to help them to continue improving.

Canoeing
Jasmine Hughes made history by representing Dio in Canoe Slalom and Canoe racing for the first time ever at AIMS Games. Jasmine had an amazing day canoe racing today! Jasmine had a flying start in the heat to finished in 2nd. Pushing her into the A Final of the Year 7 A Girls. Jasmine again had an awesome race and finished 4th at AIMS Games. We are so proud of Jasmine’s efforts over the last few days. Great to have our first Diocesan canoeist at the 2023 AIMS Games.

Sailing
Flora Oskam Steven was joined by 72 of New Zealand’s best Opti sailors who went out in two random fleets of 36 boats. Wind picked up on Day two of racing, steady 18-20 knots in the first race, easing a bit in races two and three. Flora, being one of the lighter sailors in the fleet, had to hike extra hard, but overall sailed really well. Over Flora’s three days sailing, she finished 4th Year 7 girls overall (gold and silver fleet) as well as 4th overall (boys and girls) by two points. This is an amazing achievement, well done, Flora!

Swimming
Throughout the week our swimmers had lots of personal bests and top 10 ribbons. Our amazing medley team winning bronze (Channelle, Eve, Sienna and Henrietta) by a whicker! Channelle grabbed a silver medal in 100m breaststroke, bronze in 200m Individual medley and silver 50m breaststroke. Eve was 4th place 100m breaststroke.  Sienna 5th place in 100 Fly and Henrietta 5th place in 50 Free. Our free relay team made up of Henrietta, Sienna, Reyna and Chanelle missed a bronze medal by 0.6 of a second. These girls have shown amazing spirit and determination racing at the pool for 5-6 hour sessions. Well done on an excellent three-day competition.

Netball
The Netball team had a huge week at AIMS playing 11 games over five days with some great performances. They started pool play against some strong teams taking a win and two losses moving into B grade but the girls didn’t let themselves get complacent coming back strong with a convincing win against Kaitaia Intermediate and then going down to the wire against Fergusson Intermediate. They continued their epic form going to extra time against Berkley Intermediate, where they played an extra 10 minutes of netball to win by two and move us into the top 32 of B grade. They finished the tournament in 22nd place in B grade which is a fantastic achievement having shown grit and determination to keep playing and not give up throughout the week and to keep growing in their netball!

Hockey
The Hockey AIMS team had a successful week, scoring a total of 29 goals, finishing 2nd in their pool, and finishing top 8 overall. The girls put lots of time into film, their values, sharing team responsibilities and actioning the words of advice given by Dio Hockey Code Captains Brooke Chandler and Felicity Bannatyne who phoned in to talk about what it means to represent Dio in Hockey. Special mention to Coco Morton for her competitiveness and grit throughout the week and to Georgia Walton for her excellent team spirit. Player of the tournament went to Jessie Bickelmann for her great work up front and for going out and executing the points given to her by coach Anna Bannatyne. Well done to the whole team for a week of great hockey.

Football
The AIMS Football team had an outstanding week in Tauranga, displaying top-tier skills and teamwork. The first three days were gruelling with 8 pool games, including four wins and a draw, getting through to the round of 16-24. The girls moved through the quarter and semi-final rounds with 2 wins, and finished the tournament in 17^th place, a huge improvement on the 2022 performance. The team smashed all goals that they set for themselves as individuals and as a team: consistency, communication, confidence, and thoroughly enjoyed the process. Well done girls!

Cross Country 
We had a great day at Waipuna Park on the challenging Cross Country course. Our Year 7 runners started the day well with Grace Dearlove finishing in 6th place. Following close behind were the other Year 7 Dio runners; Noomi Riley, Phoebe Kelt. Feeling inspired by the Year 7’s the Year 8 team of; Chloe Ulmer, Grace Larsen, Luisa Haines and Sophie Openshaw raced well picking up 5th in the team event. We are very proud of all runners today! A fantastic way to start the week. Was great to see our Dio Year 11 Dean, Mr Neil Cheetham on the sideline in dad mode supporting his son.