The big-ticket item they are saving up for is a W6; a six-person waka, not an easy buy at $12,000.
"This is the sprint season for us," she said.
"We take people [to train] in Wellington, Porirua, but the majority of our training is here at Henley Lake."
They do it through borrowing waka for their teams.
"In Easter, we will be in Lyttelton, for marathon events."
She said it was a privilege to compete in waka as adults, but the club's focus was the youth.
Youngsters bond strongly as a waka ama team, she said.
"It's about supporting them, about the choices they make. We would love to see the community get behind us. Many of us give hours and hours of our time."
Elsewhere the sport earns high recognition and is popular with young people in cities like Porirua, but its worth in achieving mana and fitness for youth is under-used in Wairarapa, according to coach Pat Rimene.
"It's a vehicle that could be used better," he said.
"This should be easily accessible to all youth, especially at this time of year."
The club has run youth mentoring programmes, in partnership with Wairarapa police, and they get requests to run more.
Rimene's nephew, Jerome Walker-Albrett, 14, and his twin brother, Quintin, have been paddling for three years and will compete in the J16 class at Lake Karapiro.
Jerome said he got into it after his aunty got him involved.
He said he liked how competition gave him the chance to meet new people every year "in a lot of boats, going up and down.
"It's about challenging yourself with other people," he said.
Quintin also likes the competition and the friendships, plus the fitness that comes with waka ama discipline.
"It's about how to handle your body and your breathing. That's what our uncle tells us."
