NZCT AIMS GAMES

International Sporting ChampionshipsThe six day NZCT AIMS GAMES International Sporting Championships is a multi-code international tournament owned by the AIMS GAMES Charitable Trust. Hand in hand with the growth, has been the emergence of the NZCT AIMS GAMES as a pathway, to sporting achievement and success. 

Strategic Objectives

Provide opportunities and challenges for students in the middle years to compete at an elite level, perform to a high standard, be active, celebrate fair play and enjoy success.

Attract visitors to Tauranga and promote the Western Bay of Plenty as a desirable location.

Enhance business and fiscal opportunities.

Growth

2004 - four sporting codes involving 750+ participants from 17 schools.

2011 - 15 codes with 4,600+ participants from 121 schools, accompanied by 900 coaches, managers and officials.

2012 – 16 codes, 6,000+ competitors from 164 schools, accompanied by 1,200 coaches, managers and officials.

Experience

‘Sport is neither inherently good nor bad; the positive experiences of sport do not result from participation but from the nature of the experience. In the hands of the right people with the right attitudes, sport can be a positive, character-building experience’.

The NZCT AIMS GAMES promotes:Fair Play (oath printed on the inside front cover of the tournament booklet and read at the opening ceremony in English and Maori).Fair Play Award.Coach workshops and clinics.Referee/Umpire development and mentoring. Participation certificate for all registered competitors.

Opportunities

The event provides an opportunity for 11 to 13 year olds to compete against their peers and is staged in early September each year. The spirit of the games is exemplified by the large number of participants and supporters irrespective of the schools region, context or size.

Location

Opening Ceremony

In order for the NZCT AIMS GAMES to get off to a great start we hold an opening ceremony on Day One. This sets the scene for the week.

Role Models

Engage current Olympians and New Zealand sporting role models.

Competitor Feedback

The competition was outstanding as competitor’s demonstrated fairness and pride in representing their school and relished the chance to compete against their peers in their chosen code. 70% of competitors had a family member come and support them throughout the week.

Competition

Competitive sport in a safe environment.

Collaborative Messages and Projects An opportunity to develop innovative ways of working for the benefit of youth and aligning with organisations with positive messages, including: Recycling – Tauranga City Council Waste Minimisation Programme and Waste Watchers Ltd. Smoke Free – Healthy Promotion Agency.Bullying – Tauranga Safe City. Financial Literacy - ASB Schools Banking Get Wise Programme.

Partnerships

The success of the NZCT AIMS GAMES is massively dependant on it’s partnerships with: Sports code coordinators.Regional and national sporting bodies.The New Zealand Community Trust and The Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust.Partners and sponsors. Tauranga City Council.

New Zealand Community Trust

The New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT) is the biggest funder of amateur sport in New Zealand, helping youngsters play sport and keep active is important to them. As the naming rights sponsor NZCT has been extremely enthusiastic in their support of the NZCT AIMS GAMES for the past six years.

Flagship Status

We were successful in our application to the Tauranga City Council for CITY FLAGSHIP Status. We secured $30,000 funding to support the 2013 Games. The NZCT AIMS GAMES was seen to be a uniquely Tauranga event and also an event that benefits Tauranga and its advancement as an event destination. In our proposal and presentation we demonstrated that we covered all the criteria below:Community participation or spectator access increased.Variety and scope of events available within District extended.Identified community needs/interests addressed appropriately.Tauranga based event organisers and organisations supported and developed.Local professional events services / managers encouraged and supported.Networks and co-operative partnerships between local event organisers, venues and services facilitated and maintained.Sponsorship and funding investment in Tauranga events increased and expanded.Positive lifestyle options of Tauranga events increased and expanded.Use of Council facilities promoted, including income generation where applicable.Local marketing, media event support and/or supply services contracted or employed.

Sporting Sanction

The AIMS GAMES model has proven sustainable and is reliant on the expertise and experience of the people involved in the sporting codes to manage each code component. This model has extended to receive the support and sanction at a sporting regional and/or national level for the all sporting codes involved.

Economic Impact

Given that 89% of attendees come from outside the Western Bay of Plenty region, we would expect that the economic impact would be significant. A quick analysis of the event showed the financial impact to be in excess of six million dollars.

International Model

The AIMS GAMES TRUST are actively marketing the event in Australia and further afield. The revenue from the international participation package opportunities will help to offset the costs to stage the tournament Reduce the risk and dependency on philanthropic funding.The New Zealand Curriculum highlights the importance of meeting the educational needs of an increasingly diverse population in New Zealand and enabling students to become successful global citizens.

Website

The 2012 upgraded website is very impressive. It has a huge amount of information and is very user friendly. Overall statistics for website from 1st September to 23rd September 2012Total Number of Hits = 1,855,149.To date there have been 43,210 visitors.Breakdown of pages visited per day over the week of NZCT AIMS GAMES: Sunday 9 September (18,763), Monday 10 September (51,165), Tuesday 11 September (58,550), Wednesday 12 September (54,049), Thursday 13 September (52,699), Friday 14 September (39,130) and Saturday 15 September (11,255).Average per day visit prior and post 5,400.Average duration of each visit 12.65mins.Top visits by Country of Origin (All of these countries had 500+ page visits recorded): New Zealand, Australia, Colombia, USA, Japan, Philippines, India and Great Britain.

Sponsorship

A strong relationship exists between the 16 sporting code providers, sponsors, strategic partners and business providers. Not only have we facilitated and maintained them, we have enhanced them through the expansion of their businesses as the AIMS GAMES have grown. Relationships with our sponsorship providers are the best fit with their respective philosophies.

Social Events

The NZCT AIMS GAMES is not just sport - we encourage the competitors and coaches / managers to have fun in their down-time too. We have established a comprehensive and well planned social events programme to cater for what is an important component for young athletes and coaches too. Comprehensive options are placed in the managers packs, on the website and in the tournament book giving local providers opportunity to leverage off the AIMS GAMES.

Celebration

Contact

Vicki Semple NZCT AIMS GAMES Tournament Director  P 07 578 0016 x 805 | M 027 290 0122 | E vickis@sportbop.co.nz