She has also been captain of the Waikato Provincial side, and recently played in the New Zealand Senior Māori team at the NZ Heritage Tournament.
Oriwa says inspiration for setting up the foundation included seeing some youth teams struggle due to lack of knowledge and development, being a mother of two kids showing an interest in hockey, and a lack of women’s team representation.
“Hockey helps develop interpersonal skills and whanaungatanga. It’s about having fun with hockey too.”
She says Sport New Zealand statistics show that the number of women and kids coming out of school being involved in sport is decreasing.
“Another massive target is getting more women involved. Not necessarily at a high level, but developing their base skills and helping them to enjoy sport more.”
Reasons for this can include lack of confidence and body insecurity. The foundation wants to help build people’s confidence and offer a range of workshop levels, so that there is something for everyone to have fun and feel comfortable in, she says.
The foundation is in its early stages, and has a six-week kids hockey development programme coming up, starting this first week after the school holidays.
Oriwa Hepi in action during a hockey game of FENZ BOP versus New South Wales during the Australasian Police and Emergency Services Games. Photo / Andrew Warner
She says the programme is at a cost at the moment, but hopes that once funding starts coming through they can eventually wipe a lot of the costs.
This six-week coaching block will be based around a lot of the hockey basics, such as how to hold the hockey stick and how to move your body with the ball effectively, and hopes to build confidence.
“Ideally, as we build up a stock of equipment, people can come and try the sport without the costs.”
Oriwa says an amazing group of people have put their hands up to help with Hepi Sports Foundation.
Tamar Fitzgerald is one of these volunteers. She has grown up playing hockey since she was 5, and Oriwa has coached her most of these years.
She has previously played for the Under 21 Māori team, and says helping to give back is now her main goal.
Tamar says hockey is a hard sport to get into as there are many expenses, such as the equipment needed, turf fees, and extra coaching and training if you want to develop.
She says the workshops running through the foundation will be a great opportunity to try something new.
Oriwa says they are keen to work with Rotorua Hockey on the foundation’s goals too.
For more information and to get in touch, email admin@hepisport.com or go to @hepisports on Instagram.
