Miracle shot from the school with no hoop
Pompalier Catholic School has sent a team to compete in basketball at the 2026 Zespri AIMS Games for the second time, despite having only 38 intermediate age students – and no basketball hoop!
Twelve year old Kevin Marsal was excited to share a “miracle shot” he made during a match.
“I threw the ball without looking and it went in.”
This year’s tournament, which finished on 11 September, was the biggest yet. The 22nd edition of the games brought together 14,506 athletes aged 11 to 13 from 467 schools competing across 27 sporting codes.
The team’s manager, Anita Lasike, said the team relied on the surrounding schools for training venues since they have no hoop, and some of the boys only started playing basketball this year.
The school raised funds to come to AIMS Games through sponsored jerseys and a raffle. Kevin said the 550 kilometre trip to Tauranga was the furthest he’d ever driven from home.
While in Tauranga, the team stayed with a local friend, Pika McDonald. All ten boys slept “marae styles” in his lounge. Pika also helped bench the games, and said he enjoyed watching the boys grow as players, since “they came into the tournament very green.”
On Pika’s suggestion, the boys also enjoyed ten pin bowling and laser tag in Tauranga. Anita said three of the boys had never done those activities before.
The team won three of their nine matches and placed 75th in the tournament, and say they did “pretty well” for a small town.
