THEY were told to train like champions - and they did.
For four months, Mount Maunganui College's kapa haka group spent every Friday to Sunday - staying up until 2am - practising under the moonlight outside the school marae.
That dedication paid off at the weekend when, competing against 10 high schools
from Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Auckland, the group won 12 of the 13 trophies available at the two-day Pare Hauraki Kapa Haka Competition at Ngahutoitoi Marae in Paeroa.
They lost the last trophy on offer to Te Aroha College. Mount College is the overall champion for the sixth year running and last year took out all 13 trophies.
What makes the group's success this year remarkable is that members had just 10 weeks of directed training. Mount College lost kapa haka tutor Ihaka Griffin-Matthews to Otumoetai College this year and did not have a replacement until term three.
The group was tutored by Mount College's new Maori studies head Ange Withers, who said the students had the perfect mix of singing and performing ability.
"They felt the wairua and mauri on the day ... they had the x-factor," she said.
Female group leader (Kaitataki Wahine) Jade Teepa said: "Our tutor said to us 'train like champions', so we did."<
