Te ao Māori once again answered the call of Te Arawa waka and the Māori Basketball Association with 407 teams and more than 4000 players and whānau supporters participating in the Māori Basketball national tournament held at Rotorua between January 22 and 27.
The competition is a huge logistical operation with tamariki (under 7) through to rangatahi (under 15) competing during the first half of the week, followed by taiohi (under 17) through to koeke (50+) during the second half.
A total of 28 iwi and rohe around the motu were represented and it was great to see our tamariki out there having fun and competing hard.
Mid-week all iwi were invited to perform waiata and haka at the pō whakangahau. This year was the first time that a trophy had been put up for the best overall performance. The array of iwi uniforms, with well-rehearsed waiata and haka, was impressive.
Ngāti Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Rākaipaaka, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga, Ahuriri and Tāmaki-nui-ā-Rua came together, performing a vigorous version of Kotiro Māori E, followed by Rākaipaaka and Ngā Nuhaka E, then the Ngāti Kahungunu whānau performed Kahungunu Kia Eke and Te Reo Parikārangaranga. The boys ended with E Moho E haka and the entire group of more than 200 stole the show with an impassioned Tika Tonu haka as the finale.
