Whether he’s coaching young people in the boxing ring or out of it, Tom Rangiawha’s only goal is to give everything his “best shot”.
Being shortlisted to join Team New Zealand as a boxing coach for the 2024 Olympics hasn’t changed Rangiawha’s philosophy.
As a full-time Oranga Tamariki youth worker, Rangiawha’s dreams stretch beyond coaching athletes in Paris. For him, it’s all about growing the sport he believes will change lives for the better.
“If a boxer wins a medal then all of boxing wins,” Rangiawha told the Rotorua Daily Post.
“The dream is to grow the game. Boxing isn’t about the violence. Boxing is about challenging yourself. It’s about learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”
Rangiawha said he wished more people knew how much growth, confidence and belief came from physical training.
“Boxing isn’t for everyone but it’s a good foundation to have. It gets you fit, strong and works your co-ordination. You learn how to work hard. You learn discipline and focus.”
These are all lessons Rangiawha learnt in the ring first-hand.
“I found boxing later on in life,” Rangiawha said.
“I was about 18 when I found the gym. My mates were going and just loved it. I just loved being in that environment, loved working hard.”
Rangiawha never competed as a boxer but the sport played an important role in his life as a father of seven who for a “few years” raised his kids on his own.
“I was a father at an early age. So I couldn’t really pursue boxing as a career. I still had to go to mahi and make the money.”
Rangiawha supported his family as a self-employed painter, decorator and plasterer.
“When my kids were starting to get a bit older I thought we needed something to focus on because there were a lot of gangs in the schools and a lot of drugs and that coming through, so I wanted something healthy.
“So I took them up to Rex Jenkins’ gym up on Ford Rd.”
Rangiawha spent the next eight years working at veteran boxing coach Jenkins’ gym while his four daughters and three sons trained with Jenkins. All seven of Rangiawha’s children are now New Zealand title holders in the sport.
“All my kids have travelled all over New Zealand. They’ve fought all over New Zealand and internationally. They love it.”
But Rangiawha said boxing has given his children more than globetrotting experiences.
“All the kids are good, hard workers and they also have it instilled in them that whatever you focus on you can achieve,” Rangiawha said.
“It’s that feeling of satisfaction. You can feel yourself getting fitter, stronger. Then there are all the friends that come with it. You can spar someone and you end up pretty good friends.”
Rangiawha said he loved the people he had met through boxing.
“There’s a lot of coaches out there that put so many hours and effort into our rangatahi. They do it off their own backs and out of their own pockets. That’s a lot of mahi.”
Rangiawha himself has enjoyed several coaching career highlights.
“Being a part of David Nayika’s journey when he qualified for the Olympics. That was pretty awesome.”
Rangiawha has also been a member of New Zealand’s boxing team at the Commonwealth Games, and three Boxing World Championships.
Rangiawha said boxing takes up about two and a half hours of his day. The rest is given over to youth work and family. However, the philosophy of boxing influences all his work.
“I try to develop a culture of acceptance. It doesn’t stop at the gym,” Rangiawha said.
“We’re more than just coaches. I have to be a role model as well as a motivator and sometimes a psychologist.”
Rangiawha said that in his work for Oranga Tamariki, he wanted the rangatahi he worked with to know the gym was their safe place.
“This is the place where they can learn to use tools to manage their emotions and behaviours. The gym is the place where you can make mistakes and not be judged.”
Outside of the gym, Rangiawha said he helped young people find work or get into courses.
“We set goals. We dream. I support them in appointments. Sometimes you just gotta take a kai around to their house and just have a chat,” Rangiawha said.
“I’m there to ease the pressure.”
When asked what he does to cope with the pressures he experiences in his work, Rangiawha said it was important to make sure he didn’t push his own stress on to others.
“My philosophy for youth work is being tika [upright] and pono [honest] and just giving it your best shot. Keep the ego out of the way,” Rangiawha said.
“You just try to create a relationship with that inner voice so you don’t take things on as much. And focus on the present. Miracles happen in the present and if you’re not present you can’t expect the miracles.”
Rangiawha said these beliefs were the fruit of years of work.
“There’s no luck. You don’t see me dragging my arrse out to the shed at 5am to skip and train. You don’t see the years that have gotten us here.”
But helping people made his mahi worth it, Rangiawha said.
“To be honest it doesn’t feel like weight when you’re helping someone. You do it from the heart.”
Whether he makes it to the Olympics or not, Rangiawha has plans for how boxing can keep helping the young people of Rotorua’s community.
“I need a gym. So, if somebody has a place for me to set up a base for our rangatahi, I’d be very grateful.”
Maryana Garcia is a regional reporter writing for the Rotorua Daily Post and the Bay of Plenty Times. She covers local issues, health and crime.