Students at a Rotorua school use their hockey game time to promote te reo Māori and create opportunities for it to be included in the annual national kura kaupapa Māori sports competition, Te Wiki Hā.
Te Kura o Koutu is a kura kaupapa Māori fresh to the Bay of Plenty secondary school hockey competition but which has been building the sport for more than ten years and recently formed a new year 11 squad.
Te Koutu hockey captain Kianna May says that the benefits of using te reo Māori on the turf are that it not only gives the team a better understanding of the game but it also promotes te reo Māori in general.
“It teaches us to be fluent in speaking Māori and being Māori all the time and another cool thing is that not many people fully understand te reo at the moment so we are able to up our game play and enhance our language at the same time.”
Hockey coach Renae Mason says this is the first year this particular team will play at this level of hockey and is loving the fact that her team speaks purely in te reo Māori.
“This is the school's third year playing in the tournament and the amazing part is hearing te reo Māori on that turf, ensuring our reo is spoken everywhere and that includes on the turf.”
At a secondary school boys hockey tournament in Christchurch last year, crowds complained about the use of Māori by another Rotorua school, Ruamata, on the field, but Hockey NZ is backing Māori language in the sport.
“Te Koutu speaking Māori is helpful to the efforts made by our tuakana kura, Ruamata, another kura kaupapa in Rotorua that is masterful in the sport.
“Although we hope that our kids will ensure Māori is being spoken everywhere, including on the turf, I am so thankful to our kids always speaking Māori and always pushing for new ways to be better in the gameplay.”
These students also hope to see hockey included in the national kura kaupapa Māori sports competition, Te Wiki hā that's held annually.
Kianna May says hockey is an awesome sport because it is a game where she is able to deeply connect with her teammates in a way that is beneficial to the sport itself and beneficial to helping her team understand the game play through an Māori lens.
“Hockey should be a part of Wiki hā, it's a cool sport, a sport that everyone enjoys and it's a sport where we can all sit and learn the art of it in Māori so, hopefully, it will be an option next time.”