When I got to school, I was really excited to see what group I was in. I rushed to class, and found out that I was in Sport, which I was very excited about (as it is the best group, in my opinion). Soon after, we had our Team 5 assembly, and then, we went to assembly.
Assembly was pretty normal. We sang the National Anthem, we had our duffy awards, and we welcomed people to our school. The only things that weren’t normal were the senior Kapa Haka (which was good) and the Choir (which was amazing!). After assembly, we went back to our class, ready for the day ahead.
After I got my stuff ready in my bag, I headed straight for the hall (which was where the sports was). After everyone arrived, the coaches told us that we would be playing a game called Ki-o-rahi. We watched a Maori Legend on it, and then got into our groups.
There were 4 groups, Green, Pink, Yellow, and Purple. Now let me explain how to play Ki-o-rahi. There are 2 groups against each other, and both teams have an objective. Let's start with Kioma. For Kioma, there are 3 areas, the outside, the shooting ground, and the target. If you are in Kioma, your goal (as a team) is to get the ball from the outside area (there are a group of people who can do that), to the shooting area (there can only be a maximum of 4 shooters), where they have to hit the target (which can be like a barrel, or rubbish bin, or something like that), while, there are 2 people from the other team defending it. It sounds hard, but trust me, it isn’t really. Now let's talk about Tawhiri. There goal is to run around the outside, hit the cones on the outside (which gives them 1 point per cone), and run to the middle without getting their tags ripped off (you can play touch, rippa or tackle, and we played rippa). And as I said previously, there are 2 people defending the target in the middle. Right, now lets talk about the games.
As team captain, I decided to play inside first, playing against Green. I also decided to do Kioma first. Then the game began. In Kioma, I played an outsider, and helped my team get the ball to the middle. After 5 minutes, we swapped around. As Tawhiri, I decided to be one of the defenders, and I, along with Ozzy, helped save most of the balls that came our way from the other team. We ended up winning the game by 10 points.
After I got my stuff ready in my bag, I headed straight for the hall (which was where the sports was). After everyone arrived, the coaches told us that we would be playing a game called Ki-o-rahi. We watched a Maori Legend on it, and then got into our groups.
There were 4 groups, Green, Pink, Yellow, and Purple. Now let me explain how to play Ki-o-rahi. There are 2 groups against each other, and both teams have an objective. Let's start with Kioma. For Kioma, there are 3 areas, the outside, the shooting ground, and the target. If you are in Kioma, your goal (as a team) is to get the ball from the outside area (there are a group of people who can do that), to the shooting area (there can only be a maximum of 4 shooters), where they have to hit the target (which can be like a barrel, or rubbish bin, or something like that), while, there are 2 people from the other team defending it. It sounds hard, but trust me, it isn’t really. Now let's talk about Tawhiri. There goal is to run around the outside, hit the cones on the outside (which gives them 1 point per cone), and run to the middle without getting their tags ripped off (you can play touch, rippa or tackle, and we played rippa). And as I said previously, there are 2 people defending the target in the middle. Right, now lets talk about the games.
As team captain, I decided to play inside first, playing against Green. I also decided to do Kioma first. Then the game began. In Kioma, I played an outsider, and helped my team get the ball to the middle. After 5 minutes, we swapped around. As Tawhiri, I decided to be one of the defenders, and I, along with Ozzy, helped save most of the balls that came our way from the other team. We ended up winning the game by 10 points.
After that, we had our morning tea, and went outside to play for 30 minutes. After that, we then came to the hall, and we were playing inside again against Pink. This team was A LOT harder, and they even beat us in the first half. In the end, however, we ended up winning by 4 points. Then it was us against Purple, and finally, we played outside. It was tough, and It was a WAY different experience, as it was bigger, and more difficult against a good team. Again, I played defence, and I don’t think I did as well, but I still managed to save a good chunk of them. I also played outsider, and, our team did amazing. This was the toughest game yet, and we only JUST won by 2 points. Finally, it was time for the finals. It was us, against purple again, and the pressure was high. After the blow of the whistle, the game, began….
It, was not looking good for our team. They were thrashing us, and, after a good fight being Tawhiri, it ended up being 10-4 to them. When the next half begun, I felt, like our winning streak was about to end. However, as soon as the final whistle blew, our team, went as hard as possible. There was shouting, throwing, hitting, and a epic game. And, after those 5 minutes, we had beat them, and won 15-14. It was an awesome game, and after that, it was time for lunch.
After lunch, we watched the Maori myth again, and then waited for everyone else in the school to come to assembly. And sure enough, after 5 minutes, the school arrived. It was a pretty normal end. We watched a video showcasing all the activities, and then talked about how awesome it was. We then ended by saying that Matariki Is AWESOME! After that, it was time to end, an amazing day of school.
Kia ora Caleb,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing your detailed account of your Matariki Day playing the traditional Maori sport of Ki-o-rahi. I loved your description of the final game - it was such a close score against the Purple team. What was the winning strategy? I went to a tournament a couple of years ago - Pt England had an awesome team - Tyson was the coach. Each team worked hard - talking to each other and playing as a group. Guess what? - they ended up winning the tournament! I hope you get to join in more Ki-o-rahi games!