The playing and police recruitment dreams of Ngāti Porou East Coast East Coast women’s player Ario Rewi are uncertain after a near-death experience in July. New Zealand Herald photograph by Neil Reid
The playing and police recruitment dreams of Ngāti Porou East Coast East Coast women’s player Ario Rewi are uncertain after a near-death experience in July. New Zealand Herald photograph by Neil Reid
In the space of a month, pioneering East Coast women’s rugby player Ario Rewi went from being the face of a celebrated police recruitment campaign to fighting for her life. She spoke to Neil Reid about her battle for life, and promoting women’s rugby in the heartland.
Ario Rewi loves rugby.
But her decision to play in a crunch semifinal clash in the Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Union’s women’s club competition set off a devastating chain of health events that almost cost her life.
In June the 29-year-old became one of the faces of New Zealand Police’s recruitment drive aimed at Māori women; being one of five potential recruits profiled in a series of videos.
The clips went viral, including Rewi’s which showed her hunting in the East Coast bush and revealing how her dream of being a police officer began years earlier after she met a Māori policewoman while in a “toxic” relationship.
Becoming a police officer came from a drive in making a positive influence in others’ lives.
But that dream has come to a shattering halt – for at least the next five years – in July after a severe relapse of febrile epilepsy the day after playing for her beloved Ruatoria City rugby club.
Going into the match the 29-year-old had battled a bad chest infection, but still opted to play as she didn’t want to let her team-mates down.
“I stupidly pushed myself to play that rugby game because I am very competitive,” Rewi told the Herald on Sunday.
“The next morning, I woke up and I couldn’t breathe. We called the ambulance and I went into status epilepticus when you are consistently seizing and they don’t stop.
“Between Ruatoria and Te Puia Springs [a 27km journey] I had nine seizures. When I was in Te Puia, the seizures would not stop. They put me into a coma, ventilated me because my breathing was poor . . . it was life and death.”
Rewi is looked upon as a hero by fellow women’s rugby players on the East Coast; being one of the driving forces behind the introduction of Ngāti Porou East Coast women’s rep team and the Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Union’s four-team women’s club competition.
But the impressive loose forward has her own heroes after the near-death experience.
Ario Rewi is one of the best women’s players on the East Coast, and wants to provide pathways for female players of all ages in the region.
Photo / Supplied
Gravely ill, she was airlifted to Waikato Hospital via the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust’s chopper, being admitted to ICU.
“I can’t thank the rescue helicopter [service and crew] enough,” she said. “They saved my life.”
Rewi spent a week in Waikato Hospital before being able to return to the East Coast.
She had featured in her 8-minute clip after several years of dedication to get herself in peak physical condition to enter the Royal New Zealand Police College.
That included showing gaining control over febrile epilepsy – seizures that are often brought on by fevers. Police recruits have to be able to prove they are five years seizure-free and also not be medication to stop seizures.
“I [am] not fond of allowing others’ concerns to put limitations on what I can do,” she said. “One thousand per cent I believe I will be playing rugby again, if not this year, then next year.
“I still believe that eventually, and I have every hope, I will join the police force sometime in the future. My aspiration is that.
“I don’t think there is anything that drive and hard work can’t overcome.”
In terms of playing again, Rewi said the biggest risk posed to her was of potential head trauma.
She was undergoing concussion physiotherapy treatment after suffering previous head knocks on the field.
Rugby is the common dominator that unites so many people throughout the East Coast community. Photo / Neil Reid
While working her way back to fitness, Rewi worked on Te Amokura Productions’ 10-part online series profiling women’s rugby on the East Coast, Sky High: Whitiki Wāhine Ma!
“That was awesome for me to still be involved in the teams, but not in a way that was in the form of contact or being stressful,” Rewi said.
Like so many people living on the remote East Coast, Rewi said rugby was a “huge part” of her life.
“I won’t say it is everything because obviously I am a mum and my family are my priority . . . they definitely take first place in my life,” she said.
“Rugby comes a very close second.
“The reason I think we are such a rugby passionate community is because rugby is what unites us.
“We are so sparsely spread – we are spread about 268km from the two furtherest clubs – so rugby year after year, season after season, connects us; it is what keeps us united together.”
The Sky High production shines a light on those involved in the four teams involved in the Ngāti Porou East Coast women’s club competition, as well as the province’s rep team.
For decades women have been the off-field backbone of rugby on the East Coast.
That includes being the volunteers who have looked after pre-match food and catering for after-match functions, running the bar at clubrooms, being on club boards, helping with management, and looking after the household so their partners could train and play.
The “first lady” of East Coast rugby was the late Kath McLean, who dedicated decades of her life to helping run the Ruatoria City club and the then-named East Coast Rugby Union. Her dedication was honoured by the International Rugby Board in 2001 when it flew her to Dublin and presented her with the IRB Chairman’s Award.
In more recent years, women have coached men’s premier grade club teams, while the Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Union has also had two former female chief executives.
Rewi’s own rugby service over recent years has included managing, coaching and playing for a senior women’s team, coaching an under-13s team and being a Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Union assistant referee.
Ario Rewi in action as an assistant referee during the Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Union’s men’s club rugby competition. Photo / Supplied
“Women . . . are the unsung heroes of rugby on the East Coast,” Rewi said.
“If it wasn’t for women, men could not wake up on a Saturday morning, jump out of bed, head off down to the club and play rugby.
“All those other things that happen behind the scenes . . . the catering, the organising, the cooking, home-making and taking care of children . . . they are a vital cog that turns the wheel of rugby in Ngāti Porou.”
Rewi said it was an “incredible fete” East Coast now had its own women’s competition.
Urban drift and work commitments have hit the men’s club competition hard over the past 20 years – making it hard for some teams to select a full match-day squad - with seven clubs taking part in this year’s competition.
The vast majority of women who lined up for their four clubs in this year’s Ngāti Porou East Coast also had to juggle the demands of motherhood to get on the field.
“I would say 70 per cent of the women’s club teams are made up of mums,” Rewi said.
“In terms of sacrifice, I think the mum-guilts are something that not many people talk about. I don’t think dads [who play rugby] have that. When you are a mum who is playing you get into a mum-guilt about playing instead of spending time with your family; especially because mums are the backbone of their family up here.
“It was incredible to see because as well as being mums and players, a huge cohort of the women who played club rugby this year are also hugely involved in their own club, such as being in the capacity of managing [a team].
“So many of our women, East Coast-wide, who are playing rugby this year representatively and for their clubs are wearing many hats. I think that is something that is unique to Ngāti Porou women; if there is a challenge to be had, they are the first to put their hand up and take on that challenge.
“There is no challenge too big or small.
“There is the talk about the wiwi; the wiwi is a weed that is really difficult to kill; you can do whatever you want to it and it won’t die. And I think that is the nature of Ngāti Porou people and Ngāti Porou women in particular.”
The spotlight was firmly thrust on Ngāti Porou East Coast rugby last month when the Hosea Gear-coached men’s team won the Lochore Cup final over Mid Canterbury at Ruatoria’s Whakarua Park.
The win came just a season after the side had ended an eight-season, 54-game competition losing streak.
Rewi said she hoped the victory could result in financial benefits – including greater sponsorships - for the Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Union, which would be spread through all ages and grades of rugby in the region.
Ario Rewi is on a mission to do all she can to inspire the next generation of female rugby players on the East Coast. New Zealand Herald photograph by Neil Reid
What it definitely did do was lift people’s spirits on the East Coast.
The area was hit hard by Covid-19 and before the Omicron outbreak, and because of the lack of health resources in the region, iwi bosses urged people – including Coasters living elsewhere – not to visit last summer.
More than 2000 packed Whakarua Park to watch their local heroes beat Mid Canterbury 25-20.
“It brought to our community a whakapiki wairua [the house that raises the spirit]; we have been struggling with Covid and economic downs here for the past few years,” Rewi said.
“So, for us to be able to celebrate rugby – something that is so near and dear to all of our hearts – it uplifted the spirits of all of our community. And it helped to reunite us . . . Covid kept us separated for a number of years.”
While Rewi has the goal of returning to the field, she said her “biggest aspiration” was now to ensure there were pathways for female East Coast players of all ages.
Females make up a big percentage of rugby fans and those who do the hard yards in the background on the East Coast. Photo / Neil Reid
“For the likes of us older ones, we are just holding space in the team at the moment,” she said.
“Our job is to hold space, and to continue to push for opportunities for our young leaders to continue to grow, flourish and thrive in the sport of rugby . . . a sport we love so much.”
She is a huge advocate of New Zealand Rugby funding a women’s Heartland Championship.
Such a competition would create a “great bridge” into the Farah Palmer Cup.
“It will give people an opportunity in rural communities like Ngāti Porou East Coast to participate in a very competitive competition while we continue to try and gather the resources to try and compete at a Farah Palmer Cup level,” she said.
“I have coached for a number of years at JAB level and I see so much natural ability in our girls. But we don’t have very much opportunity to expose them to developmental opportunities which will transition from club rugby, East Coast representative rugby, to Farah Palmer Cup, Super Rugby Aupiki, then onto the Black Ferns.”
That would be helped by infrastructure improvements.
An example was training facilities. On the entire East Coast there is only one full-sized indoor gym - at Hicks Bay school Kawakawa Mai Tawhiti.
Flanker Jack Richardson is hugged by East Coast supporters after last month's Lochore Cup final in Ruatoria. Photo / Neil Reid
A lack of resources and opportunities has meant the region consistently loses some of its most talented youngsters in their early teens; departures Rewi believed could be delayed.
“Our daughter is 4 years old and I would really love to support her to reach the highest heights of women’s rugby if that is what she chooses to do,” she said.
“And I would love her to continue at home, here in Ngāti Porou, surrounded by her village and her people and still be able to access rugby development opportunities that are available in other places.
“I don’t want my girl to have to go to other schools like Napier Girl’s High because she wants to play rugby and she wants opportunities. That is probably my biggest goal.
“And I want that not only for her, but for all young girls in Ngāti Porou. We don’t want to send the best of our best away, because what does that do to those who are left behind who can’t afford to go?”
The East Coast has been home for Rewi for most of her life.
One of the few times away from the region was in her late teens when she made the Bay of Plenty under-19 side.
Speaking from the heart, she said there was “no other place” she’d like to live than the East Coast.
“What I love about home is our people – our community and the spirit of Ngāti Porou,” she said.
“We might not have the same resources as bigger towns, as far as shops and things like that, but I get to wake up every morning and look out my window and know that the land that I am living on has been in my whanau for generations.
“I get to raise my kids around their family in their village. I absolutely love that I can provide my children with a village of people who love them, who support them, who will look after them.
“We grow up under our maunga, Mt Hikurangi, we fish in the same grounds my grandfather fished in and hunt in the same place he hunted . . . life just doesn’t get better. It is a simple life here, but it is a meaningful life.”
