Many of our stories come from people around the country who are involved with the game of Kī o Rahi, most are coaches, most are also teachers. We are very fortunate to have a very keen Kī o Rahi coach in the Waitaha region of the South Island who contributes to Kī o Rahi on the regular.

It’s his school holidays and he is still helping us and the game of Kī o Rahi out.

Ngā mihi e Tihirangi, ehara koe i te tangata, he momo koe!

2021 Waitaha Regional Kī o Rahi Championships

Nā Tihirangi Brightwell

2021 Waitaha Secondary School Kī o Rahi Regionals

The 2021 Waitaha Regional Kī-o-Rahi Championships were held on Friday the 19th of March, at Ngā Puna Wai Sports Hub, in Halswell, Christchurch. Testament to the growth of kiorahi in Waitaha, 16 schools from around Christchurch and Canterbury entered teams, all keen to make the most of the few opportunities we get to play this kēmu. With most teams being returnees and a couple newcomers, it was shaping up to be a fun but testing day!

Whilst in the past the Waitaha Regional Kī-o-Rahi Championships have been held as two separate tournaments, a series to determine our qualifiers, this year there would only be one regional tournament.

The 16 teams were split into 4 pools of 4 teams, and after round robin play the top two teams from each pool were seeded into quarter finals, resulting in two semi-finals; Kimihia te Mātauranga (Linwood College) vs Te Kura Whakapūmau i te reo tūturu ki Waitaha, and Te Kura Tuarua o Waihora (Lincoln High School) vs Te Puna Wai a Waipapa (Hagley College). The final would be a rematch of the previous year’s final, in which Te Kura Whakapūmau won 12-19. This year would instead belong to Te Kura Tuarua o Waihora, who would go on to secure the championship for the first time, defeating Te Kura Whakapūmau 33-4. The success of the Lincoln High School team could be attributed to the preparation they were undertaking in getting ready for the 2021 Kī-o-Rahi Nationals. The success could also be attributed to the enormous amount of love and commitment the team have for the kēmu, a level of commitment one might see in other schools’ approach to whakataetae Manu Kōrero, or to regional whakataetae kapahaka, or to what are considered mainstream sports. For many students, particularly in kura Auraki, kiorahi is their first interaction with te ao Māori. And they love it!

Depending on the format of the 2022 Kī-o-Rahi Nationals, the four qualifiers from Waitaha are:

Kimihia te Mātauranga (Linwood College)

Te Kura Whakapūmau i te reo tūturu ki Waitaha

Te Kura Tuarua o Waihora (Lincoln High School)

Te Puna Wai a Waipapa (Hagley College)

To say the teams are excited to travel to Rotorua for the next national tournament is an understatement!

Here’s hoping our other rohe in Te Waipounamu become connected to this tournament and are able to represent their kāinga as well!

Results - 2021 Waitaha Secondary School Regional Kī o Rahi

2021 Waitaha Regional Kī o Rahi Championships