Mitamitaga Sprint Regatta proves waka ama is thriving

Nga Hoe Horo O Pawarenga Outrigger Canoe Club led the charge against Mitamitaga o Le Pasefika Va’a-alo.

Nearly 40 years after one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest waka ama clubs was established, it is still going strong.

Mitamitaga o le Pasefika Va’a-lo waka ama club was founded by Pili Muaulu Sailivao in 1987, and this year held its annual regatta at Tutukākā’s Kowharewa Bay.

Ten clubs joined the event in early December , with 189 paddlers registered all up.

Club chairman Tom Kingi said the sport had grown “so much” from when he started in the 90s.

Kingi was a student at Tikipunga High School at that time, and friends with a nephew of Sailivao who often went paddling.

Before he knew it, Kingi was hooked.

“At the time, a lot of my mates during summer were running around a dry, hot paddock playing touch,” he said.

“So I thought this is where I’d rather be.”

Sailivao had travelled over from Australia for the recent event, and said being at the regatta left him feeling “so happy”.

“You can hear the echo of the laughing, and [it] reminds you of where you’re from.”

A devout Baháʼí, Sailivao said it was back in the 80s that he was inspired to get the ball rolling on building a canoe.

Sailivao knew waka ama had the potential to bring people together and drive good in the community.

Eventually, he and his family built the first Samoan pao-pao (small fishing canoe) in Aotearoa.

Pili Mualulu (third from right) with the first Samoan pao-pao to be built in Aotearoa.

“I think at the time there were lots of young people in Aotearoa that didn’t have anywhere to go or anywhere to belong,” he said.

He wanted to see the Pacific Ocean as one family, including Aotearoa.

“And I think everyone in the South Seas, including Aotearoa, wanted to see their cousins, to see their families.”

Many rural families in particular struggled with the costs of various different sports.

That’s where waka ama was different because a whole family could paddle.

“The grandparents can paddle, the parents can paddle, the older children can paddle, in just one sport,” he said.

From there, people would take the sport to places like Fiji.

“They partake, see some new people, make friends, break the barriers,” he said.

Sailivao also wanted to ensure the sport started as a clean slate with no drugs or alcohol involved as well.

“Waka ama is far deeper than just paddling,” Sailivao said.

“You create something inside you when you paddle. You put all your impurities in the ocean, it’s a healing process.”

Sailivao spent the early days of the sport travelling to rural communities and encouraging people to get involved.

Mitamitaga o Le Pasefika Va’a-alo at the Mitamitaga spring regatta last weekend.

He was among three of the founding members of the national outrigger canoe association and also founded Mitamitaga o le Pasefika Va’a-lo waka ama club.

He even went to Wellington prior to the 1990 world sprints to plead for funding of their fleet, which was granted.

Kingi said he went to his first nationals in 1994, and since then, the sport has grown “so much”.

He said the way waka ama brought people together was particularly good for families.

“The kids start from mini midgets, which is 6 years old, right up to 70. So it’s inclusive.”

Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.