Two Northlanders make ki o rahi national secondary school teams

JKi o rahi players from Okaihau College (right) perform a haka in recognition of Northland hosting the competition in 2020. Photo / Warren Buckland

You might have never heard of it but the sport called ki o rahi could be about to hit the mainstream in Northland.

This comes after Northland won the bid to host the national secondary school ki o rahi tournament next year. This year's competition finished on Tuesday with two Northland schools attending: Okaihau College and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe.

The sport is considered a mix of multiple codes played in a circular area which comprised of different zones. It involves two teams alternating between the roles of Kioma and Taniwha.

When playing as Kioma, the team earns points by touching the ball to one of the boundary markers and scoring in a zone called Pawero.

The goal of the Taniwha was to stop the other team from scoring by pulling off a player's ribbon, like rippa rugby.

Taniwha could also score points with the ball by hitting the tupu - an object in the centre of the field which the Kioma players guarded. Teams swap roles twice in the four-quarter game.

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe finished 31st in the 34-team competition while Okaihau College finished 14th. This was the first time Okaihau had attended the competition after winning the qualifying regional tournament.

Two players from Okaihau College also made national secondary school sides as a result of their efforts across their seven games over two days.

Jayden Edmonds was named in the national Māori secondary schools ki o rahi team and Alyssa Williams was named in the national secondary schools team.

Jayden Edmonds (right) showed her skills at the national tournament and was selected for the New Zealand Māori secondary schools ki o rahi team. Photo / Supplied

"Both of them have lots of skill, they are very humble players and they just got on with the job on the field," Okaihau College ki o rahi coach KC Maaka said.

Maaka, who had been involved in the sport for about 11 years, trained the team for about two months before the national competition and felt the they lived up to their potential.

"The skill and the ability was always there, it was just a matter of teaching them more skills around strategy, which was what they needed to excel."

Okaihau College faced stiff opposition in their pool matches, playing two former champions, but the Northland team still managed to win four out of their five first round games.

After a win and a loss in their next two games, Okaihau finished with a respectable middle of the pack finish considering their relative inexperience at big tournaments.

With five of the 15 players still with a year to go at the school, Okaihau College would have a strong base to build from going into next year's tournament, hosted in Northland.

Maaka hoped more than two teams would feature in the competition and said there was no doubt Northland had potential in the sport.

She saw ki o rahi as a benefit for young people physically and mentally as it enhanced self-confidence, teamwork, strategic thinking and the act of taking responsibility for your actions.

"With ki o rahi, everybody is on a level playing field, they are all learning about the game at the same time and it's a thinking game as well, you have to be strategic about how you play this game.

"It's about that connection with our young people and increasing their overall wellbeing, feeling good about themselves and it's good for them to be social."