Paddlers strive on and off water in championship bid

Qualifying to represent New Zealand in the 14th World Va'a Waka Ama sprint championships is difficult enough but, as some Whangarei paddlers have discovered, once
 selected for a New Zealand team, there is plenty more work to follow as they fundraise for their title challenge.
The Parihaka Sports Club Waka Ama paddlers had nine  representatives  in New Zealand teams after an exhaustive testing process, one of the paddlers, Analatu Wolfgramm-McKay, said.
"Everyone had to go through a series of trials since May last year, you had to meet certain race criteria in order to be selected so it's been a tough 12-month period attending the training camps and the testing," she said.
But the end is in sight now and the club and  paddlers have been fundraising hard to reimburse some of the travel costs for  attending team training camps  or  to buy new equipment.
Wolfgramm-McKay said they had a stroke of luck when they were approached earlier this year by Carter's Beach and Boat Fishing Competition, which helped them  raise more than $3000.
"We ran all the weigh stations at the Marsden Cove Marina and at Tutukaka and they helped us with our fundraising. 
"The decision was made to divide the money up between those nine paddlers and another paddler who  is a member of another club but has long been associated with our club,"  said Wolfgramm-McKay.
"We would like to express our gratitude to the Carter's Beach and Boat Fishing Competition organisers for their sponsorship and also to our club members for volunteering their time to help us raise these funds. We wouldn't have been able to do this without them."
The Parihaka club's fundraising has one major event ahead -  a "paddle-a-thon" to be held in Onerahi on Saturday, April 24 from 11am-3pm.
"We're hoping to paddle  between 20km and 40km - or as much as we can manage in those four hours," Wolfgramm-McKay said. "It's another fundraiser for us but it is also a good opportunity to showcase the sport locally in Whangarei and encourage kids in particular to have a go at paddling.
"In effect, it's also a waka ama family information day," she said.
Anyone interested in taking up the sport can go along, have a paddle and  experience the sport while they support the New Zealand paddlers do their work out on the water.
The World Va'a Waka Ama Sprints Championships are held every two years.
This year's competition is being held in Noumea, New Caledonia from May 25-29.
Organisers expect about 2500 athletes and officials from 32 countries  to attend.