GENERAL INFORMATION

Date

Monday 1st to Friday 5th September 2025 (Open Division)

Monday 1st to Friday 5th September 2025 (Girls Division) - note that Friday 5th September will be a contingency day for the Girls division.

Venues

Baywave TECT Aquatic and Leisure Centre - Corner Girven Road and Gloucester Road, Mount Maunganui.

Aquatic Centre - Te Pare a Ruahine - Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, Windermere Campus, 70 Windermere Drive, Tauranga.

Cost

$880.00 per team (NZ$)

Entries Open

Online registrations open on Friday March 14th 2025, at 9:00 AM

Entries Close

Online registrations close on Wednesday May 28th 2025, at 7:59 PM

CONTACT

Email: info@nzaimsgames.co.nz

PLANNING INFORMATION

Costs

• Schools are required to pay the entry fee of $880.00 per team (NZ$).

• Strictly non-refundable.

• School teams that withdraw from the Zespri AIMS Games after May 28th 2025, will lose their tournament entry fee and will be excluded from participating in Zespri AIMS Games for the next two years.

• Payment MUST be made within seven days of receipt of invoice.

• Invoices will be sent to the school accounts manager after the entry closing date, Wednesday 28th May 2025.

Entries Close

• Wednesday, 28th May 2025 at 7:59 PM.

• Entries to the 2025 Zespri AIMS Games must be submitted online through the online registration system. 

• Registrations will only be accepted from the school's designated Zespri AIMS Games Coordinator.

• Schools are allocated a unique Zespri AIMS Games registration log in code to complete their entries.

Competitor's Age

Competitors must be over 10 years of age and under 13 years of age, as at 31st December the year before the tournament year. Competitor’s birthdates will be required on school registration documentation. For the 2025 Zespri AIMS Games, the eligible birth years are 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Divisions

• Girls Division 

• Open Division (teams can be made up of any gender ratio. Teams can be boys only).

• Players may only be registered in one water polo team.

• Maximum of 11 registered players per team.

• To ensure players are given equal opportunities the AIMS Games Trust recommends all players get a minimum of half a game's play, per game.

• If registration for an activity is oversubscribed, then the opportunity to participate will be at the discretion of the executive committee and no further correspondence will be entered into (if unsuccessful the registration fee will be refunded).

Multiple Sporting Codes

• Students may compete in more than one sporting code, provided they are in line with the permitted code crossovers. 

• Timetable allowances will not be made for any competitors, and it is the sole responsibility of the school to check for programming conflicts. 

• Students participating in the 2025 Zespri AIMS Games can only compete in one team sport.  This means that students competing in Water Polo strictly cannot also compete in the following sporting codes – 3x3 Basketball, 5-Aside Basketball, Football, Futsal, Hockey, Netball, Rip Rugby or Rugby Sevens.

Pool size

All teams will play in the 25m pool at the Baywave TECT Aquatic and Leisure Centre (indoor pool) and the 25m pool at Aquatic Centre – Te Pare a Ruahine (outdoor pool).

PROGRAMME

RULES​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

1. A tournament committee will be in place to administer and facilitate the running of this tournament.

2. FINA rules, and age-appropriate rules, as adopted by NZWP shall apply.

3. At the completion of the round robin, all games requiring a definite result will move to ‘Golden Goal’ sudden death (first goals win).

4. All games will be played in four x five minutes running time quarters.

5. Players are not permitted in the empty lanes of the pool while another game is being played.

6. Six team members play at once including the goalie.

7. Goalkeepers and players are interchangeable.

8. ALL players on the game sheet MUST play one (1) full period during the first half of the game; no substitutions (other than through injury) are allowed during play within the first two (2) quarters, i.e. a coach plays six (6) players during the complete first quarter of the game and then up to six (6) different players, including the goalkeeper if there is a second goalkeeper listed, during the second quarter.

9. Team named first, on the left of the draw, will wear WHITE caps.

10. Both teams playing the final game for the evening game will be on duty to help reset the pool.

11. Two players from the team wearing white caps will be goal judges for the following game.

12. No timeouts allowed.

13. 30 second shot clock will apply regardless of having no stop clock.

14. There should be no substitutions in the last minute of last quarter in any games. A 5m penalty will result if this rule is being used to determine a game result.

Referees

Referees and table duty officials will be supplied by the tournament organisers. The cost for this is included in the entry fee. If you have a qualified referee attending with your team, please let the tournament organiser know (there will be a space for this on your team registration sheet which is due in by Wednesday 31st July 2024).

MEDAL PRESENTATIONS

The top three placed teams in each division will be presented with their certificates and medals at the Baywave TECT Aquatic and Leisure Centre at the conclusion of the Girls finals on Thursday 4th September, and the Open Division finals on Friday 5th September.