Napier athletes to make history at International Children’s Games

Published: 9 June 2014

Last Updated: 13 November 2014

A group of budding young athletes will make history later this year as they represent Napier at the International Children’s Games (ICG), to be held in Lake Macquarie, Australia. Napier will be the first New Zealand city to enter the ICG – the largest multi-sport youth games in the world.

The ICG were first held in 1968 in Slovenia as a way to encourage peace and goodwill amongst children of different cultural backgrounds. Since 1991, it has been an International Olympic Committee sanctioned event.

Eighteen Napier athletes and their coaches will represent the city in swimming, sailing, BMX and football, joining approximately 1500 other 12-15-year-olds in the much-anticipated December games.

Napier City Council is facilitating the tour with the support of Sport Hawke’s Bay.  Mayor Bill Dalton will accompany the delegation, along with tour leader Jeanette Cooper of Sport Hawke’s Bay.  

“This is really exciting – not only for the delegation but for Napier as a city,” Mayor Bill Dalton says.

“These promising young sportspeople get the opportunity to perform on the world sporting stage and at the same time, our wonderful city is being represented by these talented youngsters. The opportunities that could come from this are aplenty.”

To kick off a sponsorship drive for the athletes and coaches, New Zealand ultra-marathon runner, Lisa Tamati (pictured), will be speaking at a fundraising event at the MTG Century Theatre on 1 July, at 6pm . Having run distances equivalent to three times around the world, Lisa is among the top female ultra-athletes in the world and will speak about achieving individual dreams regardless of the boundaries life may throw at you. Tickets are $12 and are available from Napier Municipal Theatre, MTG Hawke’s Bay or Pettigrew-Green Arena via Ticketek (service fees will apply).

“We are very proud to be supporting this delegation and we trust the Napier community will get behind them and show their support in every way possible!”

Athletes and coaches travelling to the International Children’s Games, held from 6-11 December are:

Swimming
Bella Bassett-Foss; Maddison Tabuteau; Cameron Madams; Hadlee Dyer and coach Gary Knight.

BMX
Amy Martin; Stevie-Lee Reuben; John Berryman; Maia Troup and coach Carl Berryman.

Sailing
Brooke Wedgwood; Brianna Otto and coach Philipp Otto.

Football
Jorge Akers; Ethan Martin; Jackson Durrington; Vinnie MacKirdy; Kayden Adema; Lui Toomey; Harry Mason; Jarred Coutts (coach TBC).

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