Young athletes participating in the Zespri AIMS Games are taking a brief respite from their intense sporting endeavours today to rally together for a display of environmental stewardship.

Tauranga City Council invited games participants to also be involved with the “Zespri AIMS Games Gives Back’, a beach clean-up at Mount Maunganui, as part of the city’s commitment to kaitiakitanga.

Trading in their sports gear for rubbish bags, competitors from across the country are out today demonstrating a deep commitment to preserving the beauty of their host city and safeguarding the marine life that calls its shores home.

Meeting on the beach side of Hopukiore/ Mount Drury Reserve at 10am or 12.30pm, hundreds of athletes were planning to give up to two hours each, either during the morning or afternoon, to pick up rubbish around Pilot Bay and the Mount Main Beach areas.

All that is required is to wear covered shoes.

Twin sisters, Jade and Casey Paki, age 12, are in year 7 at St Josephs, Morrinsville. Here with their parents, this is their first year attending the games, with both competing in swimming which ran from Sunday to Tuesday.

Their school also sent six students to compete in the cross country on the weekend, returning home to Morrinsville once their event was over.

This morning Jade and Casey headed out along Mount Main Beach for the morning clean-up session with a large rubbish bag.

“We found socks, random shoes, cable ties, lots of straws, wooden icecream spoons and tennis balls,” says Casey.

The Saint Kentigern boys’ hockey team on Mount Main Beach. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

The Saint Kentigern boys’ hockey team decided to come down to the beach for the morning clean-up session, on, what is for them, a game day.

Staying at Cameron Thermal Motel, they enjoyed a hot swim at Fernland Spa on Tuesday and were due to play their next match at 3.30pm Wednesday. A walk along the beach doing a clean-up was a great way to spend time in between.

“We’ve lost two games and drawn one,” says one of their team.

Heading to Pilot Bay with a bucket and bag, the hockey team made some unusual finds, including nine starfish and bones from a sheep which they left on the beach. But also plenty of soft plastic, and down by the Pilot Bay boatramp – a shot gun shell.

Marejke Longstaff, 11, from Blockhouse Bay Intemediate. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

Marejke Longstaff, 11, from Blockhouse Bay Intemediate experienced her personal best times competing in swimming at the games. Three other swimmers from her school were also competing but had already returned to Auckland.

Marejke and her mother decided to come help with the clean-up before leaving Tauranga for home on Wednesday afternoon.

“We were looking at the website and saw the Zespri AIMS Games Gives Back and I was keen to get involved,’ says Marejke.

She has thoroughly enjoyed her first time at the tournament.

“It just a fun experience for Intermediate kids. They can do the sports they enjoy.”

Downer sponsored a free barbecue onsite for participants from 11.30am-1pm, and every athlete that comes along today goes in the draw to win their very own Hydroflask to say thank you.

All teams and individuals who came along had an adult attend with them for health and safety.

“The Zespri AIMS Games Gives Back is our kaitiakitanga in action,” says Tauranga City Council Venues and Events Manager Nelita Byrne.

“It’s the athletes and their supporters going out and giving back, showing how precious our coastline is, by collecting the rubbish.

“I think its a great programme where it’s something fun to do, especially going out as a team but also understanding the importance of the sustainability of the coastline and rubbish.  It’s something different and it brings them down to our beautiful beach.”

This year 130 athletes across 15 schools signed up for Zespri AIMS Games Gives Back.

“We’ve been impacted by the weather today, but we had huge numbers coming both for the morning and afternoons session, double what we had last year. So it’s growing, which is really great to see.”

Last year was the first time the Zespri AIMS Games Gives Back programme ran, with athletes collecting a total of 35.9 kgs of waste, with 47 per cent being recyclable and 53 per cent being destined for landfill.

“There are benefits to our city and the region but it’s also about managing the negative impact of events and rubbish. And creating that awareness around sustainability so that when you’re visiting another region, you’re asking yourself ‘what can you give back to it?’ The ability to go out and collect rubbish, reduce impact and teaching them about that.”

Nelita says at all the games venues, there are already sustainable rubbish practices in place happening.

“So we chose an area that is iconic. It’s great for the athletes to come down and spend a bit of time at Mount Maunganui.”

She says the athletes are “all over the place” – at Mount Main Beach, Pilot Bay and Mount Drury, collecting rubbish during their two-hour stint.

“Some of them try and go to a place where there’s the most rubbish. There’s a competitiveness!”

A theme recurring amongst the intermediate school students is a commitment to coastal sustainability.

Nelita is expecting to see the Zespri AIMS Games Gives Back continue to grow in numbers of athletes involved each year, while they take a break from showcasing their athletic prowess with all the sporting action for a few hours and help clean up the Bay of Plenty coastline, showcasing as well their environmental consciousness and profound sense of responsibility towards their natural world.