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Waka Kōrero

Waka Ama NZ Newsletter 
Hōngongoi 2019


Ngā mihi nui o te tau hou Māori

Kia ora e te whānau, welcome to our 5th edition of our Waka Kōrero newsletter – your one stop shop for all things Waka Ama NZ!
First of all, we would like to wish our waka ama whānau best wishes for the start of the Māori new year. Traditionally, Matariki is a time to reflect upon the previous year, by remembering those who are no longer with us, while also acknowledging new life and the year ahead.

As per usual, a lot has happened since we last spoke!
What will be featured in this issue of Waka Kōrero?
This edition will include....
  • Mahi ō te Marama for our a Waka Ama NZ Office
  • Update on our World Distance Campaign
  • Sport New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards
  • Pānui for Nationals 2020
  • Welcome our newest club
  • Our new Waka Ama Water Safety Resources
  • Showcasing our diversity - We ❤  Waka Ama
If you have any questions email admin@wakaama.co.nzIf you would like to opt-out of receiving these newsletters, just follow the links at the bottom of this email 
Mahi ō te marama 
Over the past few months, we have had a steady stream of mahi to keep us busy in the winter!

Without a doubt, the highlight so far was being awarded the Event Excellence Award at the recent Sport New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards. A real credit to an event that we all love, to all those volunteers who turn up year in year out, those who came before us to help get the event to where it is today, to our board, staff, all the clubs, and paddlers - that one was for you! We've had a great first few months at our new location on the waterfront - we are currently based in a cosy wee portacom building until our building is finished and we love it! Not to mention our ground-level storage - priceless!

Michelle, Lara, and Amiria were really lucky to attend the recent  Pacific Games as technical officials for the Va'a events. They had an amazing time with our Samoan Va'a whānau, and felt very privileged to be a part of the wider games whānau.


We are currently gearing up to accompany our New Zealand teams to the IVF Va'a World Distance Championship in Mooloolaba next month. This will be very exciting for our crews as they have been training extremely hard over the past few months. We have had a few milestones since May -  a new club join our membership, a number of awesome projects with Water Safety NZ,  and a few more exciting things that will be mentioned in this edition of Waka Kōrero.

Next time we talk will be after the World Distance Champs, so on behalf of our whole waka ama whānau we want to wish all our paddlers heading to Australia all the best and kia kaha!
What has been happening
World Distance Campaign Update
Our worlds distance crews are well into their training for the IVF Va’a World Distance Champs that will be held in Mooloolaba next month. Our J19s to Master 70s teams have been braving the cold this winter and training their hearts out in the pursuit of gold at the World Championships. We would like to make a special mention of our Para paddlers who inspire us and our community every day! 

Over the past month, we have been profiling our Elite teams including Para, V1 representatives and age group teams. You can find all of their profiles here: https://www.wakaama.co.nz/pages/read/1004858

We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of all teams and paddlers through their journey to the World Champs. We would also like to acknowledge their coaches, managers, support crew, their whanau, and friends that have supported them in their journey. Kia kaha koutou – we are with you all the way!

Click here for the event Facebook page
Sport New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards 

2018 Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Waka Ama Sprint Nationals - Winner of the Event Excellence Award
 
Ngā mihi nui ki a Sport New Zealand for this tohu! We are truly humbled to receive it amongst the high calibre of finalists!

Waka Ama is a small sport with a big vision and we are very proud of our waka ama sprint nationals. An event that has been taking place for 30 years. There are so many people who do the mahi behind the scenes to make this event the success. Our event naming sponsor Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, a big mihi to Te Ururoa and his team for their continued support. To our wonderful Waka Ama NZ Board who not only govern but get involved in this event as volunteers and paddlers. To our Waka Ama NZ Team and the 150 plus volunteers who passionately love this event and give their time and aroha to make it special.

And most importantly thanks to our clubs and membership who we call our waka ama whānau. You are the reason this event exists and the reason we all strive to make it a success! 
Bring on 2020!!!
The winner of the Event Excellence Award are Waka Ama New Zealand - 2018 Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Waka Ama Sprint Nationals at the New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards. Copyright photo: David Rowland. From left to right: Howie Tamati (CEO Sport Taranaki), Ngaire Rae Pehi (WANZ Board Member), Lara Collins (WANZ CE), Paora Howe (WANZ Board Chair), Moana-Lee Raihania (WANZ Board Member/Toihautū Sport NZ) and Zalene Douglas (WANZ Board Member).
Pānui for Sprint Nationals 2020
After the immense success of the 2019 Waka Ama Sprint Nationals held at Lake Karāpiro, Waka Ama New Zealand identified that due to a regular increase in numbers and the projected future increases - we needed to make some changes. As a result of this analysis, Waka Ama New Zealand has decided to increase the Sprint Nationals Event from the current 6 days format to 7 days of racing for all future Sprint Nationals events.

The event will start Sunday and will be formatted as below*:

 
DAY 1 Sunday Pōwhiri and Midget racing
DAY 2 Monday Midget, Intermediate, J16 racing
DAY 3 Tuesday Midget, Intermediate, J16 racing
DAY 4 Wednesday W1 racing
DAY 5 Thursday J19 and all adult W6 & w12
DAY 6 Friday J19 and all adult W6 & W12
DAY 7 Saturday J19 and all adult W6 racing
 

*Please note there may be some minor changes depending on entries received
Follow this link for the full pānui

 
New Waka Ama Club!
Welcome to our newest club - Omatai Waka Ama Club.

They are located at Taipa in the sunny north.

We wish them every success in growing their club for the paddlers in their community and look forward to seeing them at upcoming events on the calendar.

For their club contact details - Omatai Waka Ama Club

Waka Ama Water Safety Resources

Waka Ama New Zealand, in association with Water Safety New Zealand, places a strong emphasis on our waka ama whānau being safe in and around the water. Water safety is a fundamental element within waka ama.
We are very excited to unveil two resources we have been working on:

  • Waka Ama Water Safety Basics Booklet: The purpose of this booklet is to educate our waka ama whānau in six key areas of water safety in relation to waka ama.
  • Waka Ama Flip and Float Instructional Video: The purpose of this video is to provide our clubs, paddlers and community with an online resource that educates our waka ama whānau in the area of water safety.
We are extremely proud of both these resources. We will be sending each club a few hard copies of the booklet but for a printable version of the Safety Booklet click here

See below for the Flip and Float video or follow this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHlzi4lmFYc
Waka Ama Flip and Float Drill
Long Distance Nationals 2020







Keep an eye on our website for LDN updates and information!
We ♥ Waka Ama 
You may have noticed in the banner of our website something a little different. Through a series of videos, we wanted to capture the diverse faces of our waka ama whānau. We asked them what they love about waka ama and what it means to them. We think waka ama is for everyone...all shapes and sizes, genders, ethnicities, old, young and everyone in between!! Our diversity page shows a number of different paddlers from all over the world. 

Congratulations to Michele Koroheke from Invercargill who was our winner for our We ♥ Waka Ama Competition on our Facebook page.
Her comment
"Waka ama to me is about being out on the water and reconnecting with the past, taking that same journey that our ancestors once took.. He taonga tuku iho! Its also about making new connections with whanau, friends and friends we haven't met yet, tatau kotahitanga" 

Follow this link to hear their stories: https://wakaama.co.nz/site/custom/diversity
Upcoming events this August

Sat 3rd Aug

 Sat 3rd Aug

Fri 9th - Fri 16th Aug

Sat 10th Aug

Sat 17th Aug Sun 18th Aug
Nō reira, ngā mihi nui ki ā koutou katoa

Catch you in few months for our next installment of Waka Kōrero!

For any further information head to our website or Facebook page - links below.

Mā te wā
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Copyright © 2019 Nga Kaihoe o Aotearoa (Waka Ama NZ) Inc, All rights reserved.


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