Charley competes at the BMX AIMS Games

By Charley Shaw

In September, my dad and I headed to Tauranga for the 2026 Zespri AIMS Games BMX competition, which is just for Year 7 and 8 students.

I was competing in both the individual races and the team event. Unfortunately, my teammate crashed during practice, so I had to race on my own for the rest of the event.

In the individual category, I raced against about 26 riders and finished up 14th overall. I also did a solo time trial lap on the track and got around 40-something seconds, which I was really proud of. Luckily, I managed to stay on my bike the whole time!

We also checked out a local pump track while we were there. It was my first time at AIMS Games, and I had heaps of fun meeting new people, racing, and spending a great weekend with my dad.