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Southern View: August 24, 2023

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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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