Te Kūiti High qualifies for Ki o Rahi nationals

TE Kūiti High School has taken a real liking to Ki o Rahi.

Their senior and junior teams have qualified for their respective secondary school national tournaments later in the year.

The senior team have their tournament on April 12 and 13 in Rotorua, while the junior dates are still to be confirmed.

Both teams made the semi-finals of their Waikato-based competition to earn a spot at nationals.

Coach Rangi Te Whare was proud of the students and their efforts.

“They did super well. Qualifying for nationals was our goal and we’re super stoked to have made it. Making the semi-finals was a good effort.”

He said there was plenty of competition throughout the Waikato.

“We had some good battles. It’s always a good event.”

Last year at nationals, the seniors managed third place in what was a fantastic achievement by the small King Country school.

Te Whare said they had a good mixture of experience throughout the squad, and he hoped that would bode well for nationals.

“We’re just going to train harder and be smart about how we play. It’s a sport with a strong following here.”

Senior captain Hone Mathieson, who is also the school’s head boy for 2023, was proud of his team and their recent performance.

“We wanted to make the semifinals, so we achieved our goal. Nationals is going to be a good challenge but we’re honoured and excited to be representing the school.

“We have a good team and hope to do well.”

Fellow team-mate Potahi McTanish said good communication was key to their success.

“We have great camaraderie as a team. There’s a good mix of experience but we all support each other and get on well.

“It’s a fun sport we all enjoy playing, and coming up against different opponents.”

Te Oranga Anderson, who is the manager of both the junior and senior teams, said the students were passionate about Ki o Rahi.

“You can see it when they play. They’re so involved and focused on doing as well as they can for the school.

“It’s exciting to have two teams going to nationals and hopefully it will continue to grow the interest of the sport.”

Junior captain Avi Mudaliar is a big fan of Ki o Rahi.

“I really enjoy it.

“I have been playing it for as couple of seasons now and it’s always a good challenge.

“We have a good mix of players in our junior team.

“We weren’t sure how we were going to go, we made it to the semifinals as well and were super happy. Now we’re going to train hard ahead of nationals later in the year.”

Ki o Rahi is a sport with a big following at Te Kūiti High, with teams always filling up quickly.