Kids in league with nature
Black bin bags flap in the wind and a small group of foragers makes its way along Petone beach, as the youth of Te Whanganui-A¯ -Tara Ma¯ori Rugby League use their time off the field for good.
Among the adults is club chairperson Rebekah Toman (Nga¯ti Maniapoto), one of four generations of her family to be involved with the club. She was handed the reins by her father, a former chairperson, and her mother had been secretary.
Toman’s son, and now two mokopuna (grandchildren), played for the club too.
But the sport was just a vehicle. The young people who joined them were given more than a uniform in club colours.
Some new members wouldn’t know any te reo Ma¯ori, Toman said.
‘‘But by the time we’ve finished with them, they know their pepeha [a way of introduction], and three karakia [Ma¯ori prayers].’’
Established in 1993, the nonprofit club aimed to develop pathways and opportunities for young people in a way that celebrated being Ma¯ori, through rugby league. The season culminated in a game in Rotorua, with teams divided by age and whanau encouraged to come along for support.
Aside from teaching skills on the sports field, the ethos of the group was to educate young Ma¯ori about tikanga – Ma¯ori custom or practice – and give them a support network to succeed in all aspects of their lives.
Sadly, Toman said, the majority of male prisoners in New Zealand were Ma¯ori. ‘‘They’re disconnected,’’ she said. This programme aimed to connect youth to their roots, and build responsibility and resilience. ‘‘Rugby league is just a vehicle.’’
Cleaning up their whenua was the latest in that education.
‘‘It’s teaching them about the environment that we live in, planting those seeds early.’’
Their day at Petone beach, their second cleanup, was a success. There were 27 members – five adults and 22 kids. ‘‘We managed to rack up eight bags of rubbish.’’
It was a way of caring for Papatu¯a¯nuku, the earth mother, which provided an opportunity to teach boys how to treat women – their sisters, mothers, aunties and friends. ‘‘And instilling their history in them, their whakapapa.’’
Previously, players were sponsored by a luck-of-the-draw type process, where the sponsor picked a number that was assigned
to a player. ‘‘It was too easy,’’ Toman said, so now they were working for their funds.
At their first cleanup, they’d collected 20 bags of rubbish from Wainuiomata Hill, and would be heading back there with another
group of older kids to finish the job. Plenty of rubbish had been too big to move.
And it wasn’t just about the kids. For some older Ma¯ori, hearing their children talk about their newfound knowledge reignited a spark of curiosity. ‘‘Their tamariki have planted that seed again.’’
There were more than 180 whanau on their social media page.
Players paid a $50 commitment fee to join the league, and from that point on the players’ uniforms and travel was subsidised, to lighten the load on families.
The league is keen to get sponsorship from local businesses for future cleanup events, and if anyone has a location in mind they should get in touch.