Brief History of the National Secondary School Waka Ama Championships

Back in 2001, after the 4 years of very successful Secondary School Waka Ama regattas and several requests for similar events around the country. I approached Nga Kaihoe o Aotearoa with the concept of organising a National Secondary School Waka Ama Championships. I worked full time for ASB College Sport in Auckland had organised many National and Regional Secondary events and thought that this could be a great opportunity to continue to grow Waka Ama throughout . The Kaupapa of the event is and always has been to provide Secondary School students with the opportunity to represent their school at Waka Ama and at the same time provide students who have never experienced Waka Ama before to give it a go…and hopefully they will like it so much they will join a club.

Nga Kaihoe o Aotearoa agreed and the 1st National Secondary School Championship was held on 15 & 16 November at Orakei Basin in 2002. The event was supported by clubs from the Auckland Regional Outrigger Canoe Association as well as Tai Tokerau Clubs and Waikato Clubs who all brought waka to be used at the event. Bo Herbert made the journey down from Pawarenga early with his group of boys from Broadwood Area School to rig the waka and Laurie Durand and Phil McDonald were contracted to lay the lanes. This was the first Waka Ama event in NZ that used electronic timing. We hired Timing NZ to produce the results using the Photo Finish camera that NKOA eventually bought a few years later. That first year we had 49 Schools, 200 teams, 520 paddlers Gisborne Boys’ High School won the most medals with 3 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze. They were followed by Gisborne Girls High School with 3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze. Penrose High School was the top Auckland School at the regatta taking home 3 gold and 1 bronze. McAuley High School’s Sarah Tahaafe stole the show when she raced in back to back singles races winning the final of the U/16 Girls one person race followed immediately by winning the Under 19 Girls Championship as well.

The following Schools took part in the Inaugural National Secondary School Waka Ama Championships in 2002 Avondale College Kelston Boys High School Rutherford College Bay of Islands College Kelston Girls Sacred Heart Girls College Broadwood Area School Keri Keri High School Taipa Area School Campion College Liston College Tamaki College Cashmere High School Lytton High School Tauranga Boys College Church College of New Zealand Tauranga Girls College Te Kura Kaupapa Maori a Rohe o Edgecumbe College Mt Roskill Grammar Mangere Edgewater College McAuley High School Te Wharekura o Te Rangi Aniwaniwa Epsom Girls Grammar Northcote College Te Wharekura O Rakaumanga Gisborne Boys High School High School Turakina Maori Girls College Gisborne Girls High School Wellington East Girls College Hamilton Boys High School Westlake Boys High Hamilton Girls High School Penrose High Westlake Girls High School Hillcrest High Porirua College Western Heights High School James Cook High School Putaruru High School Whakatane High School Kaitaia College Rotorua Lakes High Whangarei Boys High School Kamo High School Rosehill College

In 2003 the event was again held in Auckland at Orakei Basin. In that year the entries increased to 56 Schools, 283 teams, 650 paddlers…The event was getting very big. Gisborne Girls won the 500 Championship and James Cook High won the boys 500m Championship. A young Shannon Moon took out the U19 Boys W1 for Bay of Islands College and Sarah Tahaafe defended her W1 Title

In 2004 the event was moved to March to fall in line with the New Zealand Secondary School Sports Council Calendar and to move away from Exams at the end of the year. It was again held at the Orakei Basin…but the venue was bursting at the seams with the numbers.

In this year Rutherford High School won the Division 1 Boys 500m Final and Lytton High Won the Div 1 Girls 500m Final. Mangu Kemp of Gisborne Boys High won theJ19 Boys W1’s and Danielle Destounis of Gisborne Girls won the J19 Girls W1.

In 2005 it was decided that the event was too big now for the Orakei Basin. So it was moved to Rotorua – Lake Okareka and Te Waiariki Purea Trust assisted with the administration of the event. Laurie Durand prepared the lanes at the previous 3 events and was very familiar with the organisation. Laurie and his team at TWPT were eager to see the event grow even bigger; and it did. Participation numbers jumped to 81 schools, 461 teams, 1160 paddlers The event was now 3 days long and it was tight squeezing in all the races. In this year Mangu Kemp again showed his skills winning the J19 Boys W1 event and Sieda Turiea of Edgewater College won the J19 Girls W1. Gisborne Boys High reclaimed the 500m DIV 1 boy’s title and Lytton High defended theirs from the previous year. With school participation increasing from 49 teams to 81 teams in 4 years…Waka Ama is now the fastest growing Secondary School event in Aotearoa.

2006 was a big year for Waka Ama with the IVF Worlds Sprints being hosted at Lake Karapiro. In this year the event at Lake Okareka saw 80 Schools and 1035 paddlers take part.

The event was held just a couple of weeks after the World Sprints and everyone was still buzzing with excitement. Mana College came up from Wellington and won the boys J19 500m Final and Rotorua Girls’ High took out the Girl’s Championship. Akinihi Cooper of Selwyn College won the J19 Girls W1 championship and Tukutahi Happy won the boys

In 2007 we did away with the Division 2 category to try and encourage the development of steering as a skill. 79 Schools took part and 1153 paddlers. This year we were not so lucky with the weather….it poured most of the 3 days but everyone was still smiling at the end of the week. Lake Okareka as a venue was starting to get too small for the numbers of spectators we were experiencing.

This year we also introduced the W12 Mixed category and everyone enjoyed the new race. Gisborne Boys’ and Girls’ High won the U19 Championship title in that event.

Broadwood Area School and Whakatane High won the Boys and Girls 500m Senior titles respectively Tania Hill won the W1 Title for Gisborne Girls and Sean Herbert won the W1 Title for Broadwood area school

In 2008 the event moved to Lake Karapiro. There were 83 Schools and 1195 paddlers taking part. The event is now increased to 4 days long. Joshua Perese won the J16 & J19 W1 Titles. And Te Whaeoranga Smallman for Rotorua Girls High won the J19 Girls title. Lytton High won the W6 500m J19 title and Whakatane High defended their girls 500m title.

Although 2008 was successful at Karapiro, venue costs and infrastructure meant that the event moved back to Rotorua in 2009. Te Waiariki Purea Trust under the guidance of Laurie Durand and some very good staff again hosted the event. This time it was held at Tikitapu (Blue Lake). The new venue provides more space for spectators and one of the most beautiful backdrops of any waka ama race in the world. Participation numbers were 81 Schools and 1200 students

2010 at Tikitapu saw 79 schools and 1153 paddlers, The weather was great all week…all be it a little chilly at times.

Nga Taiatea Wharekura won the U19 Girls 500m Final and Rotorua Boys’ High took out the boy’s title, Te Huia Taylor of Auckland Girls Grammar was the U19 girls W1 Winner and Moana nui a Kiwa Nuku of Lytton High was the boys champion

The event is now a full 4 days and takes around 100 volunteers. Photo Finish is a must and Alex Ryder’s race manager programme make the event flow smoothly and ensures results are swift.

This year (2011) sees the 10th year of this event, At the time of writing this there are 82 Schools entered and over 1300 paddlers. Plus a team from College de Pao Pao in Moorea Tahiti. In those 10 years thousands of Rangatahi have been introduced to Waka Ama and many have gone on to paddle for clubs and win national and world titles. There is no doubt that the Secondary School Nationals has had a huge impact on the massive growth that Waka Ama is currently experiencing as a sport.

And none of it would have been possible without the time and dedication of Waka Ama Clubs and keen individuals who have coached, organised, volunteered, steered, taxied, and supported the students to take part. A big thanks to everyone who has been involved over the past decade.

I look for to seeing us hit 100 schools and 2000 students!

Lara

Full results of previous regattas can be found on www.wakaama.co.nz and searching “secondary schools”