Basketball: Spirited haka a fitting end to tournament

A haka breaks out after the under-15 boys final at the National Maori Basketball Tournament. Photo/Stephen Parker

A a sports reporter I get to see a lot of interesting sporting moments, many of which happen after the final whistle is blown.

On Saturday, I attended the final day of the National Maori Basketball Tournament at the Energy Events Centre.

It is the first time the tournament has been staged and it attracted hundreds of Maori basketball players to the city.

A reasonable crowd had gathered around one of the finals - the under-15 boys final between Rotorua and Waikato.

The game was exciting enough but it was what happened after the match which received most of the applause.

The successful Rotorua team started a spontaneous haka on the court.

I have witnessed a number of after-match hakas in my days but this one had to rate near the top.

On hearing the haka, a young Rotorua girls team, who had just finished their match on a nearby court, came dashing over and joined in behind the boys.

It quickly caught the attention of everyone in the Energy Events Centre, with the cries echoing out the doors of the arena.

Meanwhile, the Waikato team took formation to reply. The visitors began a spirited response, led by their coach, and finished their own haka nose-to-nose with the home team.

Then I overheard a man behind me saying what most people were probably thinking: "here comes the goosebumps".