A good holiday activity was held at Dannevirke and Pahiatua September 28-31 when Rangitane o Tamaki Nui A Rua provided a basketball clinic for youngsters from 5-18 years who want to progress in the game.
It ran from 9am-4pm Monday and Tuesday in the Dannevirke Stadium and at Pahiatua on Wednesday and Thursday and was very popular.
Twenty players were involved in Dannevirke with twice the number in Pahiatua and they were coached by a group of seven young representative players mostly from the Waikato, under the direction of Paulette Lees, who originally came from Dannevirke. (She was Paulette Taurau.)
Paulette said she left Dannevirke in 1988 and moved to Hamilton where she has played and had major coaching roles in NZ and Waikato teams.
It was when she decided to form a Rangitane team for the Māori nationals several years ago that she decided to promote the sport amongst the iwi. From one team it has grown to 10 in all age groups who come together for the tournament at Rotorua in January on Auckland Anniversary Day.