Youngsters on fundraising mission

The boys from the Wairoa College Rugby Academy earlier this season. Photo / Supplied

For 32 young Wairoa rugby players a tour of Europe next year will be a case of seeing action on sports fields and visiting where the action happened on battlefields a century ago.

With the assistance of Student Horizons which facilitates international travel for schools and sports teams, the Wairoa College Rugby Academy is planning what will be a once in a lifetime trip for the young players.

Timed to coincide with the Rugby World Cup, the boys of Maori and Pacific Island descent will journey to the UK and Ireland as well as cross the channel into France and Belgium.

They will play against teams in five countries but will also see the sites of some of World War I's most ferocious battles - and battles where some may have had ancestors who fought there.

As well as cultural and heritage sites, the boys will visit the battlefields of Ypres and Passchendale.

Jamie Wansey of Student Horizons said the tour represented a life-changing opportunity for the teenagers.

"Helping schools and teams to travel offshore, our philosophy is to enable youth to challenge, discover and achieve," he said.

"For Wairoa, like many low-decile schools, there's the significant challenge of working towards such an ambitious goal even before they've arrived at the airport and we look forward to supporting them through that."

The coach at the academy, JJ Solomon, said he was excited about the objectives of the tour.

"I've recently learnt an applicable Maori phrase 'Ahakoa he aha- Ka Taea!' which communicates an idea that I try to instil in the boys, that 'nothing is impossible'," he said.

"For many of the boys having belief is the biggest challenge ahead."

Mr Solomon said the boys had a "mammoth" fundraising effort ahead.

"As well as maintaining attitude, behaviour and academics at school, committing to trainings and one another as a team, they must prove themselves worthy both on and off the field - this tour is an amazing motivator and a great incentive for the boys."

As well as visiting historic and cultural sites the boys will be billeted with local families.

"They will be immersed in new cultures," Mr Solomon said.

"And complementing that learning they will also be researching their own culture, tracing their Maori lineage, learning about New Zealand's involvement in the World Wars and finding pride from that."

The youngsters were now in the process of getting out in pursuit of fundraising for the trip.

There were team initiatives lined up including hay baling, lambing and crutching on farms around Wairoa.

The academy's First XV coach, Mike Karekare, said he recognised the value of the trip first hand.

"I remember my overseas trip when I attended Te Aute and played for their first fifteen - I know these boys will treasure this for the rest of their lives."