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A message from our new board chair - Zalene Douglas
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E rere atu ana ngā mihi ki a koutou i runga i te taumahatanga o tēnei wā. Ki te hunga kua riro tītapu atu ki a Hinenuitepō e kore e mutu te ringa kaha o Aituā. E ngā mate haere, haere, haere atu rā. Ka huri ōku whakaaro ki ngā tāngata kei te māuiui, kei te wehi, kei te noho taratahi i ō rātou kāinga ka nui te aroha, ki a rātou hoki i te mura o te ahi kia kaha kia manawanui.
These unprecedented times have caused a major disruption in our normal lives, but one that we understand and even welcome in order to overcome this dreadful pandemic. I have only one message at this time - the team at WANZ are doing a great job of dealing with the cancellation of many important events whilst also continuing business as usual including, providing sound advice to us all. They are a small, hardworking team and will ensure that when the time comes and everyone is ready and able to get back on the water, we will be able to hit the water paddling.
On behalf of my fellow board members Moana-Lee Raihania, Ngaire Pehi, Scott Linklater, Laurie Durand, Turanga Barclay-Kerr, Tupara Morrison we wish you good health and well-being. Kia haumaru te noho. Mā te Atua tātou katoa e manaaki e tiaki.
Zalene Douglas
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What will be featured in this issue of Waka Kōrero?
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- Mahi o te Marama - WANZ Office Update
- Waka Ama NZ COVID-19
- National Sprints 2020 wrap-up
- Takapuna Beach Cup 2020
- Mihi to our National Secondary School and Long Distance Nationals whānau
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- Waka Ama NZ Board Strategic Planning Meeting
- Para Planning Session
- IVF World Sprints 2020 Cancellation
- Staying waka-fit at home
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Mahi o te Marama - WANZ Office Update
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Since our last Waka Kōrero edition, we have had a few changes, not only in our Waka Ama NZ Office but in our sport and wider lives. Our last edition was in October 2019, at that point we were well into the planning of the National Sprints and working with the Regions as they hosted their Regional Sprints around the country.
January 2020 saw us spend 10 nights at Lake Karāpiro as we ran our first 7-day long National Sprint Event. The event was once again a huge success, we will wrap-up the Sprint Nationals separately.
At the Sprint Nationals we farewelled two of our board members who have been on the board since it was established - Paora Howe and Tim Marshall but we also formally introduced our two new board members - Turanga Barclay-Kerr and Tupara Morrison. We are looking forward to working with Turanga and Tupara, and although we are sad to see Paora and Tim leave - they know (as do we) that you never really leave the waka ama whānau (or Lara's vortex). As mentioned above, Zalene Douglas is our new board chair, and we are so excited to work with her moving our waka forward.
After the Sprint Nationals, we headed straight into the Takapuna Beach Cup - another great event with an awesome turn out especially from our international paddling whānau! We will sum up our highlights later in this newsletter.
At the start of March, we sadly said farewell to one of our staff members..... Michelle Mclean. Michelle has been a part of our waka ama whānau for a long time (and will continue to be... can't really leave us), but at the same time, she has been busy studying law. We are very sad to see Michelle go but also super excited to follow her on her next journey. We have so many great memories over the waka ama years and would like to wish Michelle and her whānau all the best in their next adventures!
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Finally, we have spent the last few weeks having to make some tough decisions regarding event cancellations. As disappointing as those decisions have been, in the current situation, we know they were the right decisions to make. Our world is rapidly changing but one thing we do know is that our waka ama whānau need to STAY HOME. This lockdown - if not carried out by all of us - could carry some scary consequences.
Please follow all the Government guidelines and be patient - we will all get back out on the waka soon! Our WANZ office will remain open remotely through this lockdown - don't hesitate to contact us at admin@wakaama.co.nz
KIA HAUMARU TE NOHO - KIA KAHA TĀTOU!
Ngā manaakitanga ki a tātou katoa
Nā, ngā kaimahi o Ngā Kaihoe o Aotearoa.
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With the Aotearoa NZ COVID alert status being at Level 4, we have advised all waka ama paddlers to stay off the water and your waka for the next four weeks.
Please stay home.
We know how hard that will be for a lot of our waka ama whānau, as the water and our waka are safe spaces for us all. But in the current conditions and with emergency and medical services under stress... please adhere to all government directions and stay home.
You can stay up to date with the latest information and advice from the New Zealand Ministry of Health here: https://www.health.govt.nz/…/dis…/covid-19-novel-coronavirus
There is also a dedicated Government a website where you can find all essential information https://covid19.govt.nz/
If you have any direct concerns regarding COVID-19, you can call the dedicated Healthline for free on 08003585453 (or +64 9 358 5453 if you’re using an international SIMS)
Kia kaha tātou!
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National Sprints 2020 wrap-up
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Let's look back at the 2020 Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Waka Ama Sprint Nationals....
A few stats from the event below
- 7 days of racing
- 406 races
- 150 Volunteers
- 2168 race entries
- 68 clubs
- 3850 paddlers!
It was an epic week of racing for the 31st Annual Waka ama Sprint Nationals and our first event for the new decade. We started the week with our pōwhiri and Taitamariki paddlers taking to the water on a beautiful day 1. Day 2 was our biggest and busiest day - in our history - with a record-breaking 2154 paddlers racing on one day AND all under 16! Tuesday (Day 3) was a big day, we managed the challenges the weather threw at us and want to thank all those involved for your patience. Following the juniors saw our W1 paddlers take to the water, the racing was super exciting and close! The conditions and talent on the water made for some very fast race times!
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We then started our seniors racing on Thursday to carry us out for the rest of the week. The new format of the event saw the senior racing spread over 3 days, this allowed for a bit of breathing space for paddlers and our volunteers. Thursday, we hosted our Corporate Challenge for the day at our Corporate Village on the hill. This event saw the following 11 organisations take part:
- Waikato-Tainui
- Māori Television
- KiwiRail
- Te Wānanga o Aotearoa - with two teams
- National Hauora Coalition
- Fonterra
- Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT)
- Contact Energy
- Te Wānanga o Raukawa (2019 and 2020 Champs)
- Team Ihi Aotearoa - Sport NZ
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Finally, we finished the 7 days with an action-packed day full of finals on Day 7. This included our Adaptive W6 events, where we had four teams out on the water battling hard for the gold medal.
One highlight from Day 7 was the first race of the day, J19 Women 1000m final. Tiare Maori from Te Paerangi raced a stellar race to take out that final from lane 8!! Safe to say the crowd was on their feet and there were a few tears from the spectator bank!
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Day 7 was a great day, not only for all those paddling on the water but after 7 days our volunteers had pulled off another amazing and successful Sprint Nationals. The event couldn't happen without our volunteers and all the coaches, managers, mums, dads, aunties, uncles, nannies and cousins that support all our paddlers so they can do the mahi on the waka!
We must also congratulate our three Tohu Whakarewa Tangata o Ngā Kaihoe o Aotearoa recipients. This year we had three very special individuals who have dedicated much of their lives to the sport of Waka Ama in New Zealand - Kiwi Campbell, Paora Howe, and Tim Marshall. For the full story and their contributions to Waka Ama in Aotearoa click here.
Horouta Waka Hoe took out the club points award for the 9th year and Hei Matau won The “Ace Cuthers Memorial Club Spirit Award” for their contribution to the spirit of the event during the week.
Click here for full results from the week and click here for the updated National Sprint Title Holders
Finally, thank you to Te Ururoa Flavell, Hone Paul and their team from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa for their continued support of waka ama and the Sprint Nationals. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa!
We look forward to doing it all again - Sunday 17th to Saturday 23rd January 2021!!!
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The Takapuna Beach Cup 2020 started Friday the 14th with a beautiful Valentines day, the sun was shining and just a light breeze, great conditions for our International crews to test out the Takapuna waters.
Saturday brought a lot of challenging conditions for 42km change race around Rangitoto and the 21km Iron course. The conditions made it tough for even the most seasoned paddlers, but regardless of their race pace or results, everyone had a great day on the water!
Sunday the conditions hadn't improved so unfortunately some events were canceled but the relay events battled on. The single and two-man teams put on an awesome display of pure grit as Takapuna Beach threw out some tough conditions. Though challenging, it was a great wrap up to the 14th Takapuna Beach Cup.
This year we had a great turnout with;
- 24 crews in the 5km warm-up race
- 71 crews in the 21Km races
- 36 crews 6person in the 42k races
- 127 Singles relay teams of 2 (254 paddlers)
- 21 international crews (Hawaii, Australia, Tahiti, Canada, Singapore, Arizona, New York, New Caledonia, and the Cook Islands)
- All up we had a total of 1400 paddlers and 289 teams in competition for over 3 days!
For full results from the 2020 event - CLICK HERE
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SkySport Next wrap-up
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Secondary School Sprint Nationals and Long Distance Nationals 2020
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Unfortunately, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, both of these events have been cancelled. We want to take a moment to thank both local organising committees of both events for their hard work over the past few months.
Secondary School Nationals 2020
To Laurie, Nick, Kelley and the team from Te Waiariki Purea Trust - thank you once again for helping to organise what was sure to be our biggest Secondary School Nationals yet with 131 Secondary Schools entered. Thanks to all the sports coordinators, teachers, parents and especially students who took the time to organise, train, prepare to head to Lake Tikitapu for 2020. We are very sad that we won't be your company this week, but we will be back and more excited than ever for the next National Secondary School event! Ngā mihi nunui ki a koutou!
Long Distance Nationals 2020
To the local Picton Clubs, Te Waka o Aoraki Region, Tracey, Anisha, Mike, and the local organising committee from Te Tau Ihu o te Waka o Māui - ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou!!! We know how much organisation, effort, and aroha you put into the 2020 Long Distance Nationals. It was amazing to see the support from the local Picton community and Queen Charlotte Yacht Club - who were already proving to be amazing hosts of the event. Thank you to all those clubs and paddlers who had planned to head to Picton, we know logistically it would have taken a lot of time and effort so we thank you for your support. We look forward to paddling the beautiful waters of Waitohi soon.
Ngā manaakitanga ki a koutou katoa.
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Waka Ama NZ Board Strategic Planning Meeting
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The Waka Ama New Zealand Board Strategic Planning session kicked off with a beautiful sail on Aotearoa One, thanks to the Te Toki Voyaging Trust whānau. This was followed by a one and a half-day meeting at the Hyundai Marine Sports Centre. This planning session was the first meeting for our full board for 2020 - including our new board members Tupara and Turanga. It was a great way to bring the board together, and also kick off the next 4 years of Waka Ama New Zealand's strategic thinking. A special mention must be made to Rangimarie Parata Takurua for guiding us through this process as our strategic facilitator.
We will be releasing more information regarding the process moving forward from here and look forward to sharing this journey with all our member regions, clubs, and waka ama whānau.
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Waka Ama New Zealand held a planning session and Waka Ama 'Have a go' weekend at Nga Hau Maiangi (Panama Road) on Saturday 30th November.
With the growth of Para Va'a (Para Waka Ama) in general and the inclusion of Para V1 into the Para Olympics, the planning session was designed to brainstorm ideas to help build a Para plan that will shape how we best cater for the growth of para waka ama over the next 2, 5, 10 years. It was awesome to get some of our current and new para whānau out on the water and catch up with a few smiling faces.
If you have any questions or would like some more information please don't hesitate to contact us admin@wakaama.co.nz
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IVF Va'a World Sprints 2020 - Cancellation
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Due to global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Va’a Federation (IVF) and Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association (HCRA) came to the difficult and mutual decision to cancel the 2020 IVF World Elite and Club Sprint Championships scheduled for Hilo, Hawaii, in August 2020.
We know for a fact how much hard work our Elite coaches, managers, trialists, our club teams, and V1 paddlers had put towards this campaign. This effort and hard work doesn't go unnoticed and we want to mihi to you all for your dedication and commitment to this kaupapa. In the past few months we have been working closely with our club and Elite administrators, we want to thank them for all of the organisation leading up to this point.
We know how hard this decision would have been for the IVF and HCRA to make, but in the current situation, we all know this was the right decision. We will keep you all updated moving forward, we are in the process of refunding all the club intent fees - this should be actioned over the next week.
If you have any questions or need any assistance please don't hesitate to contact worlds@wakaama.co.nz
Click here for the official IVF and HCRA announcement
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Finally, we are in the process of collating some online resources for our waka ama whānau during this lockdown. This could be keeping your tinana waka-fit as well as your hinengaro and wairua.
Keep an eye out on our website for more resources
In the meantime here are a few resources from Aotearoa and around the world that we have found online - click on the links below
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