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4<br />
Thursday <strong>August</strong> <strong>24</strong> <strong>2023</strong><br />
Tamai Sports removing<br />
JOINING A LOCAL sports team<br />
or club can be a life-changing<br />
experience for children. It sets<br />
them up with healthy habits from<br />
a young age.<br />
But many are not getting<br />
that experience, with declining<br />
participation rates and barriers<br />
that prevent young people from<br />
engaging in sports.<br />
Tamai Sports is bucking that<br />
trend by improving access to<br />
sports alongside inclusive and<br />
culturally-centred opportunities.<br />
Using sport as the vehicle for<br />
participation, the unique not-forprofit<br />
organisation adopts Māori<br />
and Pasifika values to nurture<br />
cultural identity and diversity in<br />
its programmes, building trusted<br />
relationships with whānau and<br />
the community.<br />
Tamai supports tamariki<br />
aged 8-12 who are selected to<br />
participate from the Tamai<br />
learning cluster of seven schools:<br />
Te Waka Unua, Linwood Avenue,<br />
Whītau School, Tamariki, Te<br />
Aratai College, Ngutuawa School<br />
and Bromley.<br />
Programme director Ben<br />
Hamilton said Tamai had been<br />
born out of community need.<br />
“Through extensive<br />
TEAM WORK: Programme director Ben Hamilton leads<br />
Kiana, AJ, Tara-Louise and others in team-building.<br />
research and our work with<br />
the community, we have<br />
identified four key barriers<br />
to participation that we are<br />
committed to removing. These<br />
include transport, uniforms and<br />
equipment, food, and access to<br />
coaches or positive mentors,” he<br />
said.<br />
The programme is delivered<br />
on Tuesday afternoons, with<br />
children transported to Linfield<br />
Park where they are provided<br />
afternoon tea and take part in the<br />
cultural and hauora programme,<br />
delivered in partnership with He<br />
Waka Tapu. The programme’s<br />
focuses include waiata/kapa<br />
haka, cultural identity, wellbeing,<br />
goal planning, keeping<br />
your tinana well, healthy kai,<br />
mindfulness and mau rākau<br />
(Māori martial arts).<br />
Following these sessions,<br />
tamariki receive a 45-minute<br />
sports coaching session in either<br />
rugby, football, touch, cricket or<br />
netball and share nutritious kai.<br />
“Teams then compete in<br />
the relevant Saturday sports<br />
competitions against other<br />
clubs,” said Hamilton.<br />
“Our goal is to see tamariki<br />
transition into Linwood Rugby<br />
Club or Coastal Spirit Football<br />
Club following their three years<br />
with Tamai Sports. We work<br />
closely with clubs to strengthen<br />
the pathway for tamariki and<br />
their whānau.”<br />
A 2022 impact evaluation<br />
report from Ihi Research found<br />
Tamai has been able to effectively<br />
mitigate participation barriers<br />
in several ways, including;<br />
proactively addressing barriers<br />
to participation, providing<br />
excellent role models, utilising<br />
sport as a vehicle for modelling<br />
and teaching life skills, and<br />
responding to the cultures of<br />
tamariki and whānau who<br />
attend. The research was<br />
conducted through a kaupapa<br />
Māori lens.<br />
Ihi chief executive John<br />
Leonard said the response from<br />
whānau about the programme’s<br />
impact was overwhelmingly<br />
positive.<br />
“Whānau interviewed for our<br />
evaluation were unanimously<br />
GOAL:<br />
Hemi (back,<br />
far left), Te<br />
Ranginui,<br />
Kiana and<br />
Tara-Louise<br />
participating<br />
in one of<br />
many ball<br />
games.<br />
positive about the impact Tamai<br />
Sports has had on their tamariki.<br />
“They spoke about increased<br />
confidence, enhanced mana<br />
and self-esteem, improved<br />
self-management skills, greater<br />
positivity, increased physical<br />
activity, and improved attitude<br />
and attendance at school.<br />
“Whānau also conveyed their<br />
appreciation of the whānaucentred<br />
nature of Tamai Sports,<br />
noting they felt valued and<br />
included.”<br />
During the 2022 winter<br />
season, more than 50 per cent of<br />
participants in the programme<br />
identified as Māori or Pasifika,<br />
with that number in <strong>2023</strong> now<br />
close to 62 per cent. Participation<br />
of boys and girls is relatively<br />
even, with the number of girls<br />
slightly higher (51.1 per cent)<br />
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