TE IPUKAREA

There was a great show of Ngāti Tamatanga at Te Ipukarea this month, hosted by Ngāti Rārua in Motueka.

MAUI Signing up to play for two teams wasn’t for the faint of heart, but a number of our rangatahiranbackandforthalldayfromthe netball court to the KĪ-o-Rahi field, with few breaks.

This is the first year Ngāti Tama has entered teams into the inter-iwi sports competition, andfirstimpressionsoftheevent wasthatthe air was electric Ngāti Tama Chair and staff showed support andmanaakiforourteamsbyprovidinglunch, snacks and cheerleading throughout the day. This year’s games saw teams competing in Netball, Basketball, Touch, Kī-o-Rahi and Euchre. All eight iwi braved the winds and occasionalrain to takeoutthe topspots.Most gazebo’s including ours, lost their battles with the strong winds of Tāwhirimātea but it didn’t put a damper on the days competitions.

Our tamariki and rangatahi teams were amazing on the KĪ-o-Rahi field Ngāti Tama tamariki and rangatahi displayed great sportsmanship and positivity and in the end were able to take home two first placings. Our euchre team had some intense games on the cards table, whānau came to play and they didn’t mess around!

A big mihi to our ladies netball team who represented Ngāti Tama with pride! And a special mention to Pohe Stephens and Pikiora Spooner for all your tautoko and organisation of Ngāti Tama teams.

Thank you to Ngāti Rārua and we look forward to Te Ipukarea 2020 being hosted by Ngāti Toa.

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