A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
As principal sponsor for Horouta Waka Hoe, the team at Self Storage Gisborne are excited to be supporting the current Waka Ama NZ and World Champions at the upcoming 2022 IVF World Waka Ama Sprint Championships, being held in London from August 8-16.
Eighty-four participants making up 19 teams from
Horouta Waka Hoe are set to defend their World Champion title against 1500 participants from around the world. The local contingent range in ages from 13 to 74 and the trip is funded by a combination of fundraising and personal finances — an admirable effort from a sports body with limited resources.
Chairman Walton Walker and coach Kiwi Campbell, along with a small group of volunteers, have done an amazing job in putting the trip together, without any external funding. The teams have been training hard throughout the winter in often inclement conditions.
I view our sponsorship as an extremely positive and effective way of contributing to the health and wellbeing of a wide cross-section of the local community. Waka ama is a very inclusive sport suitable for all age groups, male and female, and different levels of fitness.
It would be great to see The Herald and other community organisations help lift the profile of the sport, as there is probably no other sport locally which is as inclusive and able to be participated in by such a wide cross-section of the community. It would be even better if central government supported such sports bodies financially as part of its wellbeing programme, rather than waste billions on more bureaucrats and consultants and reforms.
