Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
See below for English translation
Nā ngā wharanga netipōro me ngā wharanga whutupōro i tahuri ai a Te Aroha Healey-Forde ki te waka ama.
He wehi iti nōna ka tino koretake ia hai pou ama. Engari hūkere ka hūkerehia e ia ngā tai hukahuka ki Tikitapu mō te whakataetae nui mō ngā kura tuarua, ka tuaruangia tana ope i raro iho i te kotahi tekau mā iwa te pakeke mō te kura tuarua o ngā kōhine.
“Na ōku hoa ahau i akiaki ki a uru ai ahau ki te waka ama. Kāore he painga o tō rātau manaaki i ahau. Ko tētehi anō māhara nui ōku, ko taua wairua tonu e tāmī tonu nei i a koe – wheoi anō kua whakamoea e ahau taua wairua pōhēhē rā, kai te karamata o te rākau kē tātau e tū ana.’He kotahi tekau mā whitu te rahi o Te Aroha. I pakeke ai i Rotorua. Nō Tuwharetoa ia, nō Ngapuhi tōna matua tāne.
Ko tana whāinga pae tata ki a uru atu ia ki tētehi karapu waka ama me te whakapakari i āna pukenga waka ama takitahi, ko te pae tawhiti ki a noho ia ki tētehi tima.Wheoi anō koia tēnei tana haerenga hou. Ko tana aroha nui tuatahi ā hākinakina ko te whutupōro me te netipōro.
‘I mua i taku kuhutanga ki te waka ama ko taku whāinga matua ko te netipōro, ko te whutupōro rānei. Ko te whutupōro taku tino kemu. Ka oti i ahau te kura ia rangi ka tahuri ahau ki te whakangūngū engari ko taua mate tonu i roto i ahau ko te whakamā ki te uru atu ki tētehi tima. Ko te mate tuarua kāore he tima tamāhine ki ngā kura.
Nōku e kura tuarua ana, ka whakapau kaha ahau ki te whakaaraara tima tau tuaiwa, nō te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā iwa te tau. Ka whakaaraara hoki e ahau etehi tima karapu, engari nā te māuiui urutā i whati katoa enei kaupapa. Nō te tau,e rua mano, e rua tekau te tau ēnei kaupapa.
‘Nō te tau e rua mano , e rua tekau mā tahi kai te pūrei whutupōro ahau. He tima pūrei raumati noa taku tima i Rotorua. Katahi rā ka whakaaraara te tima kura, hāunga i ēnei i whai tūnga hoki ahau ki te tima o Rotorua United mō te hunga i raro iho i te kotahi tekau mā ono te tau mō Waiariki.
Nā taku pai ka uru atu ahau ki te tima whutupōro Māori o Aotearoa. He kotahi anahe te wika mātau e whakangūngū ana. Ka tae ki te hiku o te wiki ko tā mātau kemu matua i tū ki te whare hākinakina matua o Rotorua. (Ko te tukinga nui tēnei o te Ika a Māui ki Te Wai Pounamu).
‘Kai tēnei wā hoki te māuiui urutā nā reira i kore ai mātau i pakanga ki Ahitereiria. E pai ana nā te mea i whara hoki ōku kūwhā’. Wheoi anō nā tō mātau wikitoriatanga i te whakataetae a Motu i kake ake te mana o te kura. He wahine mātau hoki a Te Aroha ki te taha hauora o te hākinaina.’
Ko aku wharanga nui te take i tahuri ai ahau ki te waka ama, he ahakoa haere ai ki te hōhipera, he ahakoa pokaina aku wāhanga raruraru, ka hiki te kohu i taku rae, pai kē atu te whakawhiti hākinakina ki a tika rawa taku tinana.
Ko te painga atu o taku whakawhitihanga ki kaupapa kē, kua tutaki i ahau aku hoa hou, kai te ako hākinakina, pūkenga hou, e piki ake hoki te ora o taku hinengaro me taku hauora. Kai te moana ahau e hoe ana, me tino tau anō te tinana ki te wairua o te tima. He mahi tahi te kaupapa. Ko te waka ama, tūturu kai te toto o te Māori e hoki ana ki ngā tātai kōrero o nehe ko te moana nui tērā i hoea ai e ō tātau tūpuna’.
Kai te hiahia whakauru a Te Aroha ki tētehi karapu ki te ako V1, ki a taea hoki e ia ki te whakataetae i tēnei wāhanga waka ama. He ahakoa he haerenga hou, he moana pukepuke e ekengia e te waka.
Ki te hunga hiahia ki te hoe ki te uru ki te kaupapa waka ama:
“Kāua e wehi, patua te wairua māharahara, whakamoea te reo murakehu, e pūare kau ana te wahatieke o te ao ki a koe. Kai te kūrehurehurehu ana aku pāpāringa i tēnei haerenga hou. E kare mā. Maranga e tū.
Me ka tae koe ki te kaupapa whakaharahara o te rā, kai te rangona te tinana ehara māu pea tēnei kaupapa, e pai ana e hoki ki te kāinga, engari pea ka rata koe ki te kaupapa, hoake, rukua ngā wai kanakana, hōea te moana. Kāua e titiro ki te ao marama e hoa mā. Ko Rehua tō kai.”
—Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori
Te Aroha Healey-Forde began waka ama this year after recurring injuries prevented her from participating in her preferred activities of netball and soccer.
She was afraid she would fail at waka ama, but excelled at the Secondary Schools Nationals at Lake Tikitapu and finished second in plate finals last week as a part of the Rotorua Girls High Under 19s.
“My friends encouraged me to join waka ama and were very supportive, making me feel more at ease with a sport I had never done before. Especially since I was a high-performance athlete in my previous sports, I didn’t want to fail at this new sport, but it turns out I loved it and wish I had begun sooner.”
Te Aroha, 17, is a Year 13 student at RGHS.
She was born and raised in Rotorua, and she is Tuwharetoa through her mother, Natalie Healey, who was born in Taupō, and Ngāpuhi through her father, Martin Forde, who was born in Auckland and grew up in Tūrangi.
Her short-term goal is to join a waka ama club and learn singles, and her long-term goal is to be a member of both a club team and a singles team in what she hopes will be a new journey for her.
Her interests in sports were netball, football, futsal, and volleyball.
“Before my injury, I wanted to be a professional netball or football player before joining Wakama. Football was a sport I was passionate about but never really formally played in a team.
“I used to train myself after school every day since I was a kid, but I could never find a team because I was too scared to join a club or there were no teams for girls at the schools I went to. In high school, I attempted to start a team in year 9 (2019), but it didn’t work out. I tried to start a couple club teams in 2020, but it didn’t work out due to Covid.
“In 2021, I played in 3 netball teams, and 2021 was the year I formally began playing football, I was a member of a summer football team at Rotorua United. I was also the inspiration for forming a football team at our school, which was successful. I also played for the Rotorua United girls U16 squad for Waiariki but didn’t last the season due to my injury.
“I also made a team for Maori New Zealand Football, which was a week of intense but fun training.
“We competed at Rotorua International Stadium at the end of the week. (South vs. North Island), but injuries seem to follow me, and my quads were pulled, therefore another opportunity was taken away from me.”
The success of the squad at the Nationals enhanced the school’s reputation.
Te Aroha is also aware of the health benefits of the sport. “Waka ama was a bit of an alternative sport for me due to my sports being taken away from me,” she says.
“This injury has been a blessing in disguise because it taught me how to be mentally stronger, and it led me to join a fun sport such as waka ama, something my mind has been holding me back from pursuing for the past few years. If I don’t fully recover from my injury after three surgeries and recurring injuries, I would like to take up waka ama as one of my main sport or something that is less strenuous on my knee joints.
“There are many benefits from this kaupapa. Waka ama fosters ethnic identification, social connection, intergenerational participation, and community cohesion. You meet new people, try new things, you improve your fitness and mental health on and off the water, and you begin to learn how to work as part of a team.”
Te Aroha wants to join a club and learn singles (V1) so she can compete in singles, despite the fact that it is a little nerve-racking. Although it will be a new journey for her, she is eager to learn if she has a guide.
To others who are interested in waka ama, this is her advice:
“Take action on the things you want to do. Put your name down, show up to the trial, and give it a go because if it’s not for you, it’s not for you, but if you don’t show up, you’ll never know. The world’s your oyster, and you have nothing to lose!”