STRONG MINDSET: Wanganui youngsters Arasi Filo (back left), Seletar Filo (coach), Te Kopae Filo, Jerell-Jamar Filo and Paris Paul are taking their waka ama skills to Australia. Absent Carson Mareikura.PHOTO/NEIL JONES 290815WCNJWAKAAMA1
STRONG MINDSET: Wanganui youngsters Arasi Filo (back left), Seletar Filo (coach), Te Kopae Filo, Jerell-Jamar Filo and Paris Paul are taking their waka ama skills to Australia. Absent Carson Mareikura.PHOTO/NEIL JONES 290815WCNJWAKAAMA1
FIVE young Wanganui paddlers will put into practice skills learned on a sport leadership course when they compete at the transtasman Gubbi Gubbi Waka Ama Regatta on the Sunshine Coast in Australia later this month.
Coached by husband and wife Ian and Seletar Filo, the youngsters, Arasi Filo (13), CarsonMareikura (14), Paris Paul (12), Jerell-Jamar Filo (9) and Te Kopae Filo (15), all attended a three-day Awa Sport Leadership Wananga during the term two school holidays, which involved physical training on the Whanganui River.
Co-coach Seletar Filo, who will accompany the crew to Lake Kawana on the Sunshine Coast, said eight paddlers from the course had put their hands up for the September 26-28 Regatta, but unfortunately representative sporting commitments took precedence for half, prompting the inclusion of the youngest member of the team.
"Jerell has aspirations of following his older brothers and be a national paddler, so we have included him to compete in the minnow class," co-coach Filo said yesterday.
"They will use the Gubbi Gubbi regatta as a short-term goal in preparation for the 2016 Waka Ama Nationals at Lake Karapiro in January, and the 2016 IVF Va'a World Sprint Championships on Lake Kawana.
"Fitness and paddling technique are obvious skills required at top level, but so is their mindsets. The leadership course and this regatta provide the opportunity to train the mind too."
The leadership course involved training on the Whanganui River, at the Fight Fit Gym and a Waka-o-war at the Splash Centre.
"We have been saving and fundraising for the trip, but we are also looking for further sponsorship to help with costs as we work toward[s] achieving goals and representing Wanganui and New Zealand," Filo said.
