No time to take breath for keen basketballer

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air

See below for English translation

Mā te poitūkohu koe e kawe ki ngā wāhi o te ao

E kāinga kore ana a Raupare Hohepa-Rewi me ōna hoa, ka hī te rā ka takahia e rātau te huarahi mai i Niu Haute Wēra ki Aotearoa nei whakataetae pahikitepōro ai.

Ko te whakataetae Māori ā motu mō te pahikitepōro te kaupapa. He ākona ia nā te kura takawaenga o Rotorua. He mema hoki ia nā te tīma Koru, i raro iho i te kotahi tekau mā whā te rahi. He mema hoki ia nā te tīma Kea o Aotearoa hoki i whakataetae ki te whakataetae nui o Ahitereiria i Albury. I takamuri tō rātau rererangi whakahoki i a rātau ki te whenua kura o Aotearoa nei, nā tēnei take i tae pō kē mai ai ki Rotorua.

Huakina ake ngā kanohi ko te pō o te wiki,ka iti te moe, aonga ake te rā, he Mane, kai te kōti whakataetae pahikitepōro rātau katoa e pakanga ana. Kotahi tekau ngā rā te tīma Kea i Ahitereiria e whakataetae ana. He tīma kōtiro katoa nō Kirikiriroa ētehi, nō Tauranga hoki ētehi, whaihoki nō Rotorua ētehi. Nō te taunga o te pūehu whakataetae kua tuawhā rātau i te whakataetae nei.

I wikitoria i a rātau tō rātau wāhanga tākaro, nā reira i eke ai rātau ki te whiringa whāiti engari ka whati tō rātau kaha ka hinga iti nei rātau i tētehi atu tīma. Nā reira ka hoki atu ai rātau ki te pakanga mō ngā tūnga tuatoru, tuawha. Ka tuawhāngia rātau.

Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e waru tekau te tau i tīmatangia ai tēnei whakataetae. Tae atu ai ngā tīma mai i ngā tōpito rahi o Ahitereiria, Aotearoa me Tāhimania. Kua kotahi tekau mā rua o ngā tau te rahi o Raupare. Ko ōna kāwai he huhua.

He Tūhourangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Tahu/Ngāti Whāoa, Tūwharetoa, Ngai Tai, Te Ūpokorehe me Ngai Tūhoe ia. He ahakoa tana haerenga mīharo nei, e hākoakoa ana ia i tana hokinga mai ki tōna ūkaipō, me te tumanako hoki ka whakanā ā tōna wā. I whānau ia i Rotorua, ka pakekengia i te riu o Te Whakarewarewa ki te kāinga o te whānau Waaka me te whānau Haira, ki te taha whiti hoki o te tāone, he wāhi taurikura nōna, ā, me te puku o Tōrere.

NZ Kea team with their coaches Cairyn Rogers and Sue Jans.

Nō reira tōna matua tāne. Waewae tauhou hoki ia ki te onekura o Ahitereiria, he ahakoa he tauhou hoki ia ki tēnei tākaro, kua whakapau kaha ia mō ngā tau e rua ki a māia anō ai tana tinana. Kai whea taua kōrero e kī nei he iti rawa nō te utu o tēnei momo tākaro? Ehara! Kia whakatauirangia e ahau, ko tētehi wāhanga whakangungu ka tū ki Tui Ridge, e toru mano, e rima rau te nui o te nama. Me i kore te awhinatanga o ōna kaumātua me ōna mātua kua kore pea ia e uru atu ai ki tēnei tūāhuatanga.

He whakamihi hoki nōna ki ōna mātua, ki a Rikirae Hohepa me Mātāmua Rewi, pou tokomanawa, pou kaiāwha otīā haeoratū o tōna whare. Mō te poipoi, me te amo i a ia ka pā taumaha te ngoikoretanga ki ōna waewae, ki tōna tīnana, ka nui te ora i a rāua. I ora hoki ia ā nama nei mai i te poraka whenua o Tauhara, engari ko te nuinga o te mīere i taka mai i ngā pūkoro hohonu o ōna ake kaumātua ko Te Meinga me Anaru Timoti.

Nō te Tīhema ko hori mate ai a Anaru. Engari e ora ana tēnei poupou, koia tētehi o ngā tino kanohi ka kitea ki ngā whīra tākaro huhua o te rohe. Nō reira e moe e koro. E ora hoki ia i te kaha o te whānau ki te nama i ngā taumahatanga me tō rātau aroha ki te kawe i a ia ki ngā whakangungutanga katoa. Kāore e ārikarika hoki ōna whakawhetai ki a Matua Dougie Edwards me tōna makau rangatira ko Hailey Houltham.

E rite tahi ana te aroha, te tautoko me te whakaū kaha ki tōna wairua e pirorehe ana. Ko te paetawhiti māna, ki a rukua e ia te puna mātauranga o tēnei tākaro, ki a whai kaha hoki ia ki te noho tahi ki ngā rekereke o ngā toki o te ao tākaro, ka oti ko te whakakaha i tōna wairua pakari ki a māia ki a tūmatahao ai ia ki te mura o te ahi otīā ki te ao poitūkohu.

Ko te paetata nei he whakakaha i tōna tīnana, kia pakari ake ai ngā pūkahukahu me tōna whatumanawa, ko te whakapiki hoki i āna pūkenga tākaro. I roto i te whatumanawa te koroingo mā te poitūkohu ia e kawe ki ngā kōti tākaro rau o te ao.

—Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori.

English Translation

Raupare Hohepa-Rewi and her teammates had been home less than a day from New South Wales before they had to take the court again at the National Maori Basketball Tournament.

The Rotorua Intermediate student was a member of the Koru Under 14 Girls team, the NZ Kea, who competed at the Australian Junior Basketball Country Cup at Albury. Their flight home was delayed an hour and they did not arrive in Rotorua until 8pm on Sunday.

Then on Monday, January 23, it was down to the courts in Rotorua for the week long Tournament which saw Raupare’s team, Te Arawa Maori U13 Kotiro Whero place 1st overall in that grade.

The Kea were in Australia for 10 days. The team, which contained girls from Hamilton and Tauranga as well as Rotorua, finished fourth in their grade.

They won the pool play and, in the semifinal, met the winner of the other pool. The pool winners ended up playing for third and fourth.

The cup has been running since 1985 for teams from Australia, Aotearoa and Tasmania. It enables competitors to see how the game is played in other areas.

Raupare, 12, who connects to Tūhourangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Tahu/Ngāti Whāoa, Tūwharetoa, Ngai Tai, Te Ūpokorehe and Ngai Tūhoe, was just glad to be home and hoping to catch up on some rest.

Born in Rotorua, she was raised at Whakarewarewa, the home of her Waaka and Haira whanau, and in Rotorua’s east side and Torere, her father’s ukaipo.

It was her first time in Australia, and while a newbie at that tournament, she has been working hard at the sport for two years.

Basketball is not a cheap undertaking, as the whanau has found. For instance, a block training course at Tui Ridge cost $3500.

NZ Kea caught a window to have a break and wind down before their next game.

Raupare says that it is thanks to her parents and kuia and koroua that she has been able to participate.

She credits her parents Rikiae Hohepa and Mātāmua Rewi with being her greatest supporters. They have encouraged and supported her no matter what.

The whanau did obtain a grant from Tauhara North, but the bulk of the funds came from her kuia and koro, Te Meinga and Andrew Timoti. Andrew, a familiar figure around the sports fields of the rohe, passed away in December.

She is thankful because not only do the whanau pay the fees but also take her to practices and to her games.

Special thanks go to her Uncle Dougie Edwards and Aunty Hailey Houltham who encouraged her to take up the sport and have been constants during her journey.

Her aim is to learn as much as she can from her mentors and advance her own fitness and skills in her ao poitūkohu.

Raupare’s immediate goals are to build her strength, fitness and skills. Longer term, she would like to practise her sport all over the world.