Kua pōhiritia e Tūhourangi me Te Arawa te tini me te mano o ngā kaihoe waka ama ki te Roto o Tikitapu mō te Whakataetae Waka Ama Ā-Motu a Ngā Kura Tuarua 2026. Koinei te whakataetae nui rawa atu i roto i ngā hītori o te hākinakina nei, me te 2,300 neke atu i ngā ākonga mai i te 140 kura.
I kōrero a Katarina Haverkamp o Te Kura o Te Koutu mō te pōhiri o te ata, e kī ana he mea whakamīharo te whakahaeretanga.
“Ki ahau nei, mīharo rawa atu te whakahaerenga o te pōwhiri i te ata tonu nei. Me te mea hoki roa aku tamariki e haka ana, e haka pōhiri ana kia tae katoa ngā manuhiri i runga anō i te tokomaha.”
Hei tāna anō, he wāhi nui tēnei hākinakina mō te iwi Māori. Ahakoa ngā uauatanga o te whakatupu i te hākinakina, he wikitoria tonu te hua e puta mai ana.
“Heoi anō kei whea kē mai te mīharo o te kite i a tātou tamariki e whakawhanaunga ana ki ngā kura kē atu ki ngā tangata kē atu. Nō reira, ki au nei āe he hōhā anō Tōna te tupu o tēnei hākinakina engari ko te mutunga ake. He wikitōria ko te taenga mai o te iwi Māori ki tēnei hākinakina.”
Ko Te Wharekura o Mauao tētahi o ngā kura i tae mai me te tokomaha rawa o ngā ākonga kei reira i tō rātou marumaru. I whakanui tō rātou kaiako, a Wiremu Mako, i te taenga mai o tōna iwi ki Te Arawa, me te tirohanga ki te rangi pai.
“He ātaahua, he ātaahua te huarere, he ātaahua te kite i ngā uri kua pakeke mai ki runga o Te Arawa, me te 90 o ā mātou uri i raro i te maru o Te Wharekura o Mauao, ko Te Kuru o Matapihi hoki tērā.”
Ka kōrero anō a Mako mō ngā painga o te waka ama ki tua atu o te taha whakataetae, e rite ana ki te kapa haka tonu mō te tinana me te wairua.
“Ki a au nei ko te tino painga, he āhua ōrite ki te kapa haka. He taha whānau, he taha tinana, he taha wairua, he taha kura. Ko ngā whakaharatau e rite ana mō tēnei o ngā whakaterenga waka, te whakapau kaha o ngā uri ki te whakariterite, ā-kai, ā-whakapakari mō te kotahi miniti noa i runga i te wai.”
I whakanui anō a Katarina i te tautoko a te kura me te hapori o te rohe mō te kaupapa:
“Kua roa te kura e tautoko ana i teenei kaupapa. Me tika kia tae mai maatou, maatou o te waa kaainga ki te tautoko i teenei kaupapa o Te Waiariki Purea Trust me te Waka Ama NZ.”
Ko te mahi inaianei mā ngā rangatahi he hoe i te waka ki runga i ngā wai o Tikitapu kia kitea ko wai ka toa.
Naia Smith paddles out of comfort zone at Waka Ama Nationals
For Naia Smith of Te Wharekura o Mauao, the 2026 Waka Ama Secondary Schools Nationals at Tikitapu is a journey outside her normal routine.
“Cause we normally train on the moana. Not on a lake. So yeah, it’ll be fun to see how the water is,” she commented on the change of venue.
Making her debut in the biggest secondary school waka ama competition in history, the Year 9 student spoke about pushing her personal limits to attend. “I got out of my comfort zone. I wasn’t gonna do it. Cause we have Haumanea at kura, different Haumanea like arts and stuff. But I knew I wanted to get out of my comfort zone so I came here.”
Smith is competing as part of one of the largest contingents at the event. For her and her team, their commitment is absolute. “It is our super power, from Tauranga Moana. We go through the hard. Thick and thin. If it’s hard, we won’t give up. If it’s easy we still won’t give up.”