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He mātanga ki te waka ama a Trinity Rakena. Ko ia tētehi e aro pū ana ki ngā wahakataetae waka ama nui o te ao. He tino mōhio a Trinity, mā te ūpoko pakaru rānō e eke ai ia ki te taumata angitu.
He kotahi tekau mā rima te rahi, tūturu kāore he titiro ki te ao marama, ko te waka ama tōna ao. Nō Ngapuhi me Waikato-Tainui tēnei autaia. Ka whakawhiwhia e ia ki te mētara koura mō te whakataetae j16 tamāhine w12 nōna e whakataetae ā motu ana nō ngā rangi ko pahemo.
E tika ana hoki tana whakamihi ki ōna pouako katoa.
‘Kāore i ārikarika ngā tai mihi ki a kotou kai aku rangatira huhua. Mō te whakaū me te whakatō kaha ki roto ki ahau e toimaha ana. Kai taku tuakana, te whetū kōmata o te rangi taihoa e rite tahi nei taua. Te ihu o taku manawa, tēnā koe’.
Kua kitea kētia āna pūkenga huhua e te motu. Kua hau te rongo ki ngā hau e whā.’ I whakawhiwhia e ahau ki te tūnga tuatoru i te whakataetae kura tuarua-ā-rohe i Te Tai Tokerau. He waimarie nōku i tuatahi ahau i te whakataetae#trainlikeakingaward. He kaupapa whakamihi ki te tangata e rite nei tona wairua ki te tokomaha.
‘Ko te pae tawhiti kia piki ake taku kaha nōku e whakataetae nei i tēnei wāhanga w1, kai te taumata o te maunga taku hiahia, ki te kāhui tokotoru.Mā te aro pū ki te kaupapa, mā te whakangungu, me te whakapono ki ahau anō e eke ai ki tēnei tūnga rangatira’. I whānau a Trinity i Kirikiriroa, ā, taitamarikitia i Kerikeri.
Me tona whakapono, e pūare ana ngā painga o te waka ama ki ngā rangatira katoa o te ao. ' Me he tangata pai koe ki te waka ama, ko ngā hua katoa o tēnei hākinakina ka takoto ki te aroaro. Ka tutaki i a koe ngā hoa hou, mā te waka ama e whakawhiti ai koe ki whenua hou; he ahakoa enei painga ko ngā mahi porohīanga ā tima hoki ka whakaatuhia ā paetukutuku ki te ao whānui, nō reira me rangatira hoki koe’.
' Ko te pae tata nei ki a uru ai ahau ki te whakataetae whakatere-ā-ao. Kātahi tēnei kaupapa nui whakaharahara. Kai ia tauhou ka manaakingia te kaupapa e tētehi mana whenua hou.
' Ā ngā tau kai te heke mai ko te hiahia kia uru ai ahau ki te rōpū j19 hai pou hoe mā Aotearoa’.Hoki anō ki taua kōrero ra ra, mā te ūpoko pakaru rānō e! ' He ahakoa te momo hākinakina, me pakari kē te tangata.
Ao, pō, pō, ao mēnā kai te ū ngā whakaaro ki tāu e hiahiatia, ka waia te tinana ki te wā o te whakataetae. Ka tae koe ki te whakataetae, ā, kai te mura o te ahi koe, ko tāu, he tuku i ngā taumahatanga katoa, he tuku i te werawera ki a whai mana ai tō hinengaro me tō tinana kia eke ai koe ki te matatihi o te maunga’.
‘Kātahi ka puta mahara ake ki te wā o te māuiui urutā/kōwheori, ae nā, i whakapōrearea hoki te waka ama i te māuiui nui.Ko ngā tāngere o ngā waka kai uta e takoto ana. Nā ngā ture o te wā e kore e tāea e tātau katoa te puta ki te whakapakari. Wheoi anō ka tahā taua wā taumaha, ka uru anō ai mātau ki te waka ama, ka rongona te wairua hou, kīhai i puta te tokomaha, he wehi tonu nō ētehi’.
Nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e waru tekau ka whakarewangia te kaupapa waka ama i Aotearoa. Nō te tau e rua mano mā rua ka tū te whakataetae kura tuarua tuatahi ki Ōrākei i Tamakimakaurau.
E wha tekau mā iwa ngā kura i tae. E rua rau katoa ngā tima whakataetae, e rima rau, e rua tekau katoa ngā pouhoe.
Nō te marama ko pahemo i tū te whakataetae waka ama kura tura-ā-motu ki Tikitapu. He kotahi rau mā rima ngā kura i puta.
Tae hoki mai ētehi kura nō Tahiti. He kotahi tekau mā whitu ngā wāhanga o te whakataetae. Me he rangi paruhi hoki. — Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori
Trinity Rakena is a dedicated waka ama paddler with her eye on world championships.
The 15-year-old knows that it is only by training hard and consistently that she will achieve her goals. A student at Rotorua Girls’ High School, she is a boarder at Te Whare Whawhau o Te Aokapurangi on the Toi Ohomai campus.
She is prepared to make the sacrifices necessary and give the time to training hard.
The uri of Ngāpuhi and Waikato-Tainui won gold in the J16 girls W12 at this year’s sprint nationals.
For her success she gives a big shout-out to her coaches over the years.
“Big mihi to make coaches throughout the years for pushing me and encouraging me to take every opportunity that comes my way. And my brother who I aspire to hopefully be as good as at wakaz.”
Her skills and dedication to the sport have already been recognised.
“I have been awarded with bronze in the Tai Tokerau Secondary School regionals. I was also lucky enough to win the #trainlikeakingaward which is awarded to someone who gives a lot of time and effort towards their trainings.
“I would love to progress in the w1 division hopefully making it to top 3. I can do this by being committed to trainings and always giving it my all and not giving up.”
Trinity was born in Hamilton and has spent most of her life in Kerikeri. She believes that everyone can benefit from waka ama.
“Many opportunities are available through this sport, you are able to make new friends from all over the country and even the world, and you can get noticed for absolutely anything when it comes to being a part of waka ama; even if it’s a silly dance video your team made at nationals.”
Her goal in the near future is to make the sprint worlds.
“My goal in the close future is to make it to sprint worlds, a massive campaign held for all countries and hosted by a different country each year.
“In the years to come, I’d like to eventually make it into the J19 elites team to represent Aotearoa overseas.”
Trinity knows that success won’t come just because she wants it.
“Training is involved in every sport.
“In order to progress and get better at this sport you need to train. Putting your time and effort into trainings is key, there’s no point in training if you are not going to give it your all, even if you are feeling unmotivated it will only better your performance.”
Covid had a huge impact on the sport.
“Throughout our time of covid many were unable to train and many kaupapa were put on hold due to serious spreads of the virus.
“When coming back into the sport after covid everything felt brand new, less people turned up and many were still scared to attend functions.”
The revival of waka ama in Aotearoa began during the 1980s.
The first secondary school’s championships took place at Orākei, Auckland, in 2002. Forty-nine schools participated comprising 200 teams and 520 paddlers.
At the national secondary championships at Tikitapu/Blue Lake last month 105 schools, including some from Tahiti, took part in 17 events on the programme.
Kaingaroa Timberlands has bought 9200ha of forestry land in South Waikato.