News

2021 Titirangi Mt. Everest Closing

Posted on by Tracey Harkess

Sunday evening marked the end of the Titirangi Mt. Everest Challenge for 2021. 

Due to Alert Level Two guidelines, there was no major closing ceremony this year, however, Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti were on the maunga on Sunday evening handing out certificates and spot prizes, and the event was officially closed off with karakia from Morehu Pewhairangi and his whānau. 

Over the seven weeks of the challenge, 1,600 participants took part, made up of 163 teams. Altogether participants climbed the maunga over 17,000 times. 

Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti Events Advisor Debbie Hutchings said “The TMEC has been going for 9 years and each year we see people achieve more than they initially set out to do and in process create new friendships with other participants, share their journey and more importantly improve their overall health and wellbeing. We encourage people to keep going and work towards their goal. Titirangi or wherever the maunga is located, will always be there for people to climb.” 

Participant Daryl Gowers had his own personal journey with the challenge. He had a friend pass away from cancer a few weeks prior to the start of the challenge and made a commitment to him that he would complete the 68 climbs. Over the 7 weeks he accumulated an incredible 471 climbs. Gowers said ”This achievement was not only in memory of my friend who had passed away but for the many families that lose loved ones to cancer here in Tairāwhiti. I like to see all the smiling faces and bring more enjoyment while on the maunga by giving away lollies for a bit of fun.” Daryl works as a volunteer for the Gisborne East Coast Cancer Society raising much needed funds for the services they provide.  

With support from Ngati Oneone, Sean and Fiona Shivnan, the East Coast Cancer Society, the Gisborne District Council and ProTraffic, as well as local champions such as Huringa Pai, the event was able to raise awareness and funds for the East Coast Cancer Society to support locals living with bowel cancer. 

The Remarkable Games

Posted on by Tracey Harkess

Thirteen rangatahi from Gisborne Girls High School, Gisborne Intermediate and Campion College took part in The Remarkable Games last Friday. 

The Remarkable Games is facilitated by Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti and joined by sporting codes that want to get on board to deliver an inter-school event. The kaupapa of the event is to provide our tamariki whaikaha (disability) community a safe, supportive environment where the rangatahi can be their unique selves and have some fun. It is a series of mini-games to get rangatahi involved in sport, play and active rec. 

Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti Active Rangatahi Advisor Alana Karehana said “The event is always so much fun. It’s amazing giving these rangatahi an opportunity to play modified sports together and having the support of codes like Central Football coming together. You see them reaching their full potential out there, with movement and social interaction because they’re given the opportunity to. Their faces just light up, they couldn’t be happier.” 

The day consisted of a mixture of athletics, running races, hula hoops, football and finished off with a kanikani/dance off! 

The event was last held in July with Poverty Bay Golf and Parafed. This time Lee from Central Football joined in to teach football drills and skills.  

The next Remarkable Games is set to be held in March 2022. 

Takaro Mai – Play Week Aotearoa 2021

Posted on by Tracey Harkess

Say Yes to Play! 

Play Week for 2021 kicks off on Monday 15 November through till Sunday 21 November. 

The nationwide initiative is led by Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa and regionally implemented by Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti and Healthy Families East Cape. It aims to encourage whānau, rangatahi and tamariki to Say Yes to Play! 

Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti Regional Play Systems Lead Anna Tolich said “Play is the easiest way for our tamariki and their whānau to stay active. Play is a fun, unstructured and sometimes a messy way for our tamariki to develop the essential life skills they need such as problem solving, movement skills, creativity, social and emotional connections, resilience, independence, leadership and informed risk taking”  

There is no rulebook for Play. Play looks, feels and sounds different to everyone. It doesn’t need to be formal, structured or cost money. It is as easy as going outside and exploring your own backyard. 

“If we think back to our childhood memories, play was spontaneous, child led and directed, freely chosen with no pre-determined outcome, fun, accessible, challenging, social and repeatable. It was   usually based outdoors in nature, highly active with elements of challenge and risk that tested boundaries in an imaginative way. Share your play memories and old school games with your tamariki and inspire the next generation to Play everyday.” Said Tolich. 

To celebrate play, Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti and Healthy Families East Cape will be running themed play challenges throughout the week. Challenges range from dress ups, sand sculpting, fort building, chalk play and more.   

2021 has been a tough year for many, take some time out during Play Week to help you connect with tamariki, and improve your hinengaro (mental health) and tinana (physical health). 

To go in the draw to win a Hart Sport NZ voucher for your favourite school or kura, head over to the Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti Facebook page for the daily challenges and show your whānau, colleagues, or school and kura Saying Yes to Play! 

Kai Pai Day at Potaka School

Posted on by Tracey Harkess

Onepoto Based Manawakura Advisor Shyla, Kate and Tracey from Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti visited Potaka School for their Kai Pai Day.

Manawakura is a regional approach to a nation wide initiative called Healthy Active Learning, which is funded by Sport New Zealand, Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. One outcome of the initiative is to support schools and kura to create healthy food and drink environments. The Manawakura kaupapa for kai is to use a contemporary and holistic approach. Kate, a Dietitian, says: ‘Our goal of raising healthy eaters isn’t just about getting tamariki to eat their carrots for todays lunch, it’s supporting tamariki to grow up with positive eating attitudes and behaviours towards kai’. And that’s what Kai Pai Day was all about: a fun and interactive day for tamariki to celebrate and explore kai.

Prior to the day the students planned what they wanted to cook, the ingredients they would need, and rallied together to make it all happen.  Tamariki chose to make homemade burgers, kebab sticks, and smoothies. It’s fair to say there was cheerful chaos in the kitchen with 45 tamariki cutting, mixing, and grating kai but it was so cool to see them getting stuck into it. Tamariki tucked into the kai and had a sense of achievement having made what they were eating. A student said: “Look Koka, we made this!” holding up their burger.

Overall the day was a huge success, and the teachers were grateful tamariki were given the opportunity to have a hands on kai experience, especially given how isolated the up in Potaka, however having staff members like Shyla-Drew Taiapa, living and working in Wharekāhika helps ensure all of our schools are able to access Kates skills.

The staff at Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti are getting their way around kura on the coast, and hope to visit them all by the end of the year. Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti said we’re here to support our schools and kura on the coast and throughout Te Tairāwhiti in any way we can, especially when it comes to the health and wellbeing of tamariki.

Bronwyn Kay Agency Sporting Excellence Awards Postponed

Posted on by Tracey Harkess

Following the ongoing disruption caused by COVID-19 and the Government’s restrictions on gatherings, Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti has decided to postpone the Bronwyn Kay Agency Excellence Awards to Friday 11 February 2022. 

The awards were planned for Friday 5 November to acknowledge and pay tribute to the many fine sporting achievements by the sporting community over the last 24 months. The qualifying period is usually 12 months but had been extended from July 2019 to June 2021 to cater for the disruption of COVID-19 on sport. 

The logistics behind running the event and maintaining the necessary public health measures would make it difficult to proceed with the awards in November. The event would have to be restricted in numbers or be held on an online environment. These options would also impact the quality of the event.  

“We know there will be disappointment the awards are not going ahead in November, but we have to recognise that even with the easing of some restrictions there is still a lot of uncertainty at this time.” said Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti Chief Executive Stefan Pishief. 

“We want to be able to keep our community safe whilst celebrating our athletes, teams, clubs and coaches with the recognition that they deserve. To do this we feel that it is the best option to move the date of the award’s evening. The postponement will hopefully mean that finalists will be able to celebrate with their friends, whānau and support on the night to acknowledge their success and contribution.”  

The generosity from sponsors allows for the event to go ahead. We would like to thank all of our local sponsors, and the wider community, for their understanding and ongoing support through these uncertain times. 

Nominations have been received and deliberated on by a panel of judges. Finalists will be announced Wednesday 6 October. 

We look forward to celebrating our region’s athletes, teams, clubs and coaches at the Bronwyn Kay Agency Sporting Excellence Awards in 2022.