1 September 2023, Issue 1175
All in for AIMS Team spirit will be high at this year’s AIMS Games as one Rip Rugby team won’t let one of their star players be left out! Running from September 2-8, the 2023 Zespri AIMS Games in Tauranga will host more than 11,700 intermediate aged athletes.
Mount Maunganui Intermediate Year 8 student Jade Dudson-Koro was all geared up to play in the games with her Rip Rugby team when injury struck. “I was playing Tai Mitchell rugby six weeks ago and I tried to step someone and my knee just popped…
“I’d snapped my ACL and tore my meniscus,” says Jade. Although Jade has been side-lined from sport for 12 months, her Rip Rugby teammates have kept her involved with trainings. Just last week, they took her up Mauao using the
Te Kaiwhakatere – TrailRider. “We’ve got a really good team spirit at Mount Intermediate and we just don’t throw people away,” says the team’s co-captain, Carter Horton. “Even though I can’t play, I’m still looking forward to AIMS,” says Jade. Read more on page 9.