Article added: Thursday 12 September 2024

By Isabella Root

They experienced highs and lows, and made lifelong memories. Now they’re back sharing it through the lens of a new generation, literally. 

Media students and former AIMS Games athletes Will South, Henry Lee and Zach Quin have returned to the intermediate-aged tournament – this time on the other side of the camera.

As part of this year’s Zespri AIMS Games Media Team, Will is on social media content creation, Henry is in charge of the words, and Zach is capturing it all in photos. 

Will South competed in football for East Auckland’s Somerville Intermediate School in 2018 and said AIMS was “one of the best experiences of my childhood”.

The Communication Studies student at Auckland University of Technology said his experience at AIMS helped spark his passion to become a football coach for Howick College’s First XI. 

Returning to AIMS this week, Will has been the voice behind the trending Instagram reels, interviewing athletes, and capturing behind the scenes content for social media.

“It has really opened my eyes to the opportunities available and it really brings me back,” he said. 

“My favourite part was talking to Bayleigh Teepa-Tarau’s dad James about how AIMS has changed his son’s life. He was so proud.”

Will’s advice to this year’s athletes was to, “Give it your all, on and off the field”.

Fellow AUT student Henry Lee is in his second year of Communication Studies, majoring in journalism and radio.

Representing Maraetai Beach School in 2017, Henry loved competing in cross country and multisport. It was at AIMS where the then 11-year-old Henry got the opportunity to meet Olympian, Hayden Wilde. 

This week, Henry is interviewing athletes about their experience, writing articles for the brand new AIMS Gamer newspaper. 

“AIMS has been unreal and amazing. It’s probably my favourite event I’ve ever covered,” he said.

“Everyone works together for a week to cover loads of sports stories and sports is my speciality. It makes me want to go back and play.”

Henry’s favourite story of the week was covering the phenomenal swimmer Grayson Coulter who won eight events in the pool, smashing records along the way. He is likely to one day represent New Zealand at the Olympics. Watch this space.

Zach Quin represented Tauranga Intermediate School in 2017 competing in cross country, multisport, hockey, and waterpolo.

“I always loved coming to AIMS, it was probably the best two years of sport in my life.”

Now, Zach is studying a Bachelor of Business, majoring in marketing and public relations at the University of Waikato’s Tauranga campus. 

This week, Zach’s been capturing some of the best moments at AIMS as part of the photography crew, rubbing shoulders with veteran award-winning photographers from around the country.

“It’s a totally different experience looking at it from this angle,” Zach said. 

“The event has changed a lot. It was big when I was here, but it’s even bigger this year. It is epic to see how many kids are involved in sport now.”

Zach has been to almost every sporting code at AIMS this week and said his favourite sport to photograph has been the 9-hole golf. 

“It’s been cool to be able to get out and see different parts of Tauranga I haven’t seen before.”