Results - 2019 Canterbury Secondary School Ki o Rahi Regionals

Canterbury Regionals 2019 - Jump Shot

The Canterbury Secondary Schools’ (CSS) Regional Kī-o-Rahi tournament was held at Hillmorton High School, on Friday the 5th of April 2019.

The event was organised by the team at Ara Institute (formerly known as CPIT). They were supported by Sport Canterbury. The kaiwhakahaere, Heperi Harris, one of the forward figures of not just Kī-o-Rahi, but taonga tākaro Māori here in Ōtautahi.

The purpose of the tournament is to provide a competition environment for kura tuarua from around Waitaha, Canterbury, and continue to grow the sport of Kī-o-Rahi. It is also the event at which high schools from around Canterbury can seek qualification to the 2020 NZSS National Kī-o-Rahi competition.

Rangatahi from around Waitaha have developed a real passion for Kī-o-Rahi, so as the sport grows in popularity and numbers, the opportunity to be seen as the strongest Kī-o-Rahi team in Waitaha is a much-coveted position.

The tournament consisted of 16 teams from around Waitaha. The participating schools were Burnside High School, Cashmere High School, Hagley College, Te Pā o Rākaihautū (2 x teams), Hillmorton High School (2 x teams), Riccarton High School, Christchurch Boys & Christchurch Girls High Schools combined (2 x teams), Lincoln High School (2 x teams), Linwood College (Kimihia te Mātauranga), Te Kura Kaupapa o te Whānau Tahi, Te Kura Whakapūmau I te reo tūturu ki Waitaha, and Christchurch Rudolf Steiner School. In previous tournaments schools have been limited to 1 team each, however, on occasion there is room for schools to have multiple teams. 16 individual schools participating is a victory, and in the tournaments where schools can provide 2 teams, this is also really great as it provides more opportunities for any willing players.

The ‘tournament favourites’ tag would have to go Linwood College, who were the defending champions. Linwood were also the first team from Te Waipounamu to compete at the NZSS National Kī-o-Rahi competition (2018).

The weather was not ideal for the tournament, however it did not stop all 16 teams from participating. The tournament was played under the ‘two touch’ rule, a format that has been the norm for Kī-o-Rahi in Canterbury. Among other differences, the format played in Waitaha requires players to be touched twice to enforce a handover, with another rule that may differ from others around Aotearoa being the kōtiro mā being worth double the points when they score. Taniwha also collect pou, just like Kīoma! The competition made it through pool play, though as the rain became too heavy the tournament was called off, with the knockout stages to be completed at a later date.

After pool play, the table was as follows:

As mentioned previously, the knockout stages of the competition where rescheduled to be played at a later date. It is unfortunate, but due to a number of circumstances the knockout stages did not eventuate, so as it stands the table toppers from each pool finished first equal. The Taonga Tākaro ki Waitaha committee are in the process of resolving this predicament.

- Tihirangi Brightwell

2019 Canterbury Regionals Taonga