Focus on a dream and family

The COVID-19 pandemic may have diminished the dream for the 16 year old to attend the 2022 Olympics by hampering his preparation and ranking, but his parents, Lauren and Peter, explain the youngster may have found a new direction for his competitive spirit.

“Snowboarding is a very expensive sport,” explains Peter Wikohika. “Tui has been the New Zealand champion for his age-group for the last two years, and to progress from there means moving into the international competition scene in order to get a world ranking.”

“The recent COVID-19 situation has really thrown a big spanner in the works for us, because of all of the uncertainty, the quarantine requirements, and associated costs.”

“Tui came back just at the end of February 2020 from the USA. He got out of the States just in time to get home as our country went into lockdown. He was only supposed to be home for four weeks before flying back for another month and a half to participate in the training camps and competitions. But we decided to cancel that trip,” says Lauren.

“To qualify to be eligible for the Olympics he needs to be competing in Europe and the USA. And while that was Tui’s dream, recently he told us he wanted to focus on doing his NCEA Level 2s. It seemed like it was good time for him to do that – to put snowboarding on hold a bit, while nothing is happening internationally.” “

So now he is working hard on his education and being physically present at Ruapehu College, given that he had to do online learning while he was travelling and boarding.”

As the second eldest of five children, Tui’s constant absence away from his whānau was starting to affect his passion and drive for the sport.

Billeted to families who had the money to live by the Cardrona ski fields close to Wanaka to support their children’s snowboarding helped Tui appreciate what it cost his parents to let him go and be independent.

“They were wonderful people, but I think not having time with his siblings and us, that whanaungatanga of being part of his community in Raetihi, I think that he saw that as a sacrifice too. Tui does understand as a result how participating in an elite sport does come down to having money. That’s why he is so determined to be successful when he competes: to demonstrate his appreciation for what everyone has done to help him,” says Lauren.

Both Tui’s maternal grandmother, Ann Paul, and his father Peter are shareholders in Ātihau Whanganui Incorporation, and the support provided from the Trust was a critical part of enabling Tui to travel between his hometown and the South Island ski fields.

“It gave him the ability to be home with us but then to travel to training camps and competitions. Given the elite nature of the sport it was a significant contribution to his success,” says Peter.

He acknowledges that his son is really a quiet humble teenager and doesn’t like the limelight.

“You wouldn’t even know he is a New Zealand champion. He is only happy to post things on social media if he knows that it is to acknowledge his sponsors and supporters that have helped him get to his competitions. But when it is time to do the business, he is very competitive and focused, and has always had that approach in every sport he participates in.”

Lauren says Tui is learning through waka ama, a very different sport, that the high expectations he sets for himself as an individual are not always echoed in other team members.

“I guess because he knows what it takes to be an elite athlete he gets quite cut up when people don’t go to training, so he is focused on bringing that discipline to his team.”

Lauren and Peter want Tui to love what he does even if it means he moves onto to another sporting discipline.

“Being able to participate in Waka Ama is something he always missed out on because of snowboard training. Just being with the Waka team, crew and coaches has really exposed him to his culture, to te ao Māori.”