PHOTOS: Daniela Maoate-Cox
Darting between taniwha, Nicky Pio dived through the gateway and slammed the ball down by the tupu in the centre. She swivelled to see if she had scored and grinned as the referee awarded three points to the ki-oma from Burnside High School.
This is Ki-o-Rahi, a fast-paced Māori ball game. Ten teams from Christchurch’s secondary schools competed last week in the second Ki-o-Rahi tournament of the year at Pioneer Stadium.
“It’s an adrenaline-fuelled game,” said Burnside High School captain Fabian Thwaites. “It’s fun to throw a ball at everyone. You’ll get a couple of grazes.”
Teams alternate between being the ki-oma (ball runner) or taniwha on a circular court. Ki-oma (ball runners) protect the tupu (bin) in the centre and score tries. Taniwha block ki-oma and score by throwing the ball at the tupu.
“It’s easier to pick it up by playing than trying to explain it,” Thwaites said.
Most of the Burnside High School team played their first Ki-o-Rahi game at the tournament, but their inexperience did not dent their success.
“We’ve won every game and we’re versing Linwood College in the final,” he said. “I reckon we’ll win it because of our girls.”
Teammate Nicky Pio said girls were a tactical part of the game.
“You have to shut down the girls, because they get double points. So we use girls, use the middle and then we just run around,” teammate Nicky said.
Linwood College captain Mitchell Sewhoy said Ki-o-Rahi is a combination of sports.
“It’s like a mixture of dodge-ball, touch and netball – a bit of all the kiwi sports.”
Ki-o-Rahi has a rich culture and is based on the story of Rahitutakahina rescuing his wife Tiarakurapakewai from the seven sisters, Sewhoy said.
“The bin in the middle is the wife that you’re trying to save. The small circle is the moat that only the taniwha are allowed in because they’re trying to get to the wife,” he said.
The tournament is held by TOA sports from the Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.
TOA sports teacher Heperi Harris said the sport is new in Canterbury but has taken off worldwide. The Māori Battalion took it to Italy and France in World War II, and millions of American children learned the game through McDonald’s 2005 Passport to Play programme.
“[Ki-o-Rahi] is gaining popularity fast in Christchurch,” Harris said. “It’s massive. The secondary schools started a tournament three years ago that I was a part of and it’s built from there. Sometimes we’ve had 20 teams that want to come in.”
Harris said the game was an easy way for students to interact with Māori culture.
“Sometimes people think you have to speak Māori to interact with Māori events, he said “Language is very important, but here they’re able to participate without the pressure of speaking Māori.”
Harris said Māori terms and idioms were learned in the game and another tournament is planned for November.
_Daniela Maoate-Cox
