AIMS Games 2022 Water Polo round-up

After a couple of months of fundraising activities, as well as all the behind the scenes organisation and administration, Rosmini Intermediate Water Polo has wrapped up a successful AIMS Games tournament, finishing 8th overall out of a field of 24 teams.

It didn't quite get off to the start we wanted, with a default win over Rangiruru School. Our second game saw us up against Berkley Normal Middle School in the outdoor pool at Toi Ohomai, in what we'd have to say as being some of the worst conditions the boys (and us parents who are used to the comforts of indoor pools!) had ever played in - raining and freezing cold. Our boys came away with a 10-3 win despite the conditions.

In the next couple of games our boys finished in similar fashion, beating Auckland Normal Intermediate 13-0 and Tauranga Intermediate 9-0 leaving us to play one of the top teams in Auckland, Sacred Heart, in the final round robin. Our team fought hard and put Sacred Heart under pressure from the swim off, resulting in their goalie scoring an own goal and defensively our boys played a hard game shutting down Sacred Heart's big centre forward several times. We went to half time down 2-1, which was an incredible feat in itself, but unfortunately a few momentary lapses in the third quarter lead to Sacred putting on three unanswered goals, leaving our boys scrambling on defense. The final score was 7-1 defeat, but this put our boys into the Championship playoff making the top 8.

Again, our crossover games were tough. Drawing St Kentigern Boy's first in our quarter final losing 7-1, then going down to Aquinas College 4-1 in our semi final and a nail biting final loss against Cobham Intermediate, losing 5-4.

Overall, a very successful tournament for the team despite these losses in the latter half of the games. A very big thank you to our Rosmini Old Boys, Ross McFadzean and Zachariah Stewart, for taking time out of their busy university schedules to coach and mentor the team. Also, a big thanks to all the parents who came down to support our boys and help out during the week, making this a memorable and great experience for all.