Northland Kauri Volleyball men's team training ahead of Saturday's match. Photo / Tania Whyte
24th August 2023 Photo Tania Whyte
Northland Kauri Volleyball men's team training ahead of Saturday's match. Photo / Tania Whyte
24th August 2023 Photo Tania Whyte
The Northland Kauri men’s volleyball team has redemption in their sights ahead of their match against rivals and previous victors the Waitākere Rebels Phoenix.
Saturday’s game at Te Hou Ora in Tikipunga is a rare opportunity for the team to showcase their skills in front of a home crowd as they mostly travel to Auckland for the Northern Zone League fixtures.
Northland Kauri is competing against five other teams in the gold division in division two, hoping to earn a spot at the Volleyball New Zealand Club Championships in October.
Assistant coach Kane Turketo said his team had played the Waitākere Rebels Phoenix, who have youth on their side, once before.
“We lost to them in the first round but were down some key players so this will be a bit of a redemption game.”
Turketo said a strength of his side was the mix of new young players - the youngest being 15 - and experienced seniors who bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the court.
Northland Kauri boasts the likes of former New Zealand national title winner John Fowler, who doubles as the team’s coach, and upcoming talent Amoho Karetai Mahanga.
The team is on an upward trajectory given the last time Northland had a men’s volleyball team was around 2015.
Tawhai Laurence spikes the ball at the team's training. Photo / Tania Whyte
Turketo described the hiatus as a “blessing in disguise” as it allowed a “big culture reset” to take place.
“Now with a refreshed culture, new and new old players paired with the leadership of our coaching team, we are achieving our goals to become good athletes which we believe will result in wins in the long run.”
Northland Kauri Volleyball vice president Erin Fowler said in addition to the men’s team, they run a women’s squad which she captains.
The women compete in the top division of the Northern Zone League but have a bye this coming weekend. They are led by coach Lenna Milton.
Fowler said Northland Kauri is the only volleyball club in the region and had grown from having no teams to four. Players from Kerikeri travel to Whangārei for weekly training and then further afield for weekend games.
“There’s nothing for players to continue playing so we’re trying to make a pathway to competitive volleyball.”
This year will mark the second time the women’s team competes in the national championship but instead of division two, they will be in top tier.
Fowler said the club’s goals were to have both teams in division one of the league and to build up volleyball enough in Northland that teams inside the region could compete against one another.
The club was aiming to run a social competition in Northland starting in October as a way to provide more opportunities to experience the sport, she said.
Helping along the way were sponsors Promains and Wise Waterblasting plus funding from the Grassroots Trust and Oxford Sports Trust.
