Journey sets crew apart
Chris Taewa
TURANGA Ararau waka ama coach Bruce Taiapa and his crack Akiwa crew can identify with philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson’s quote “Life is a journey, not a destination”.
When the New Zealand champion under-16 boys’ crew arrive in New Caledonia for the Va’a world sprint championships in May, they will be able to reflect proudly on how they got there . . . or, as Taiapa puts it, “their journey”.
A journey that is not just about paddling. A journey that has built character, taught them life skills and put them on a path Taiapa believes will lead to success in whatever they choose to do.
They are already champions after their golden performance in the junior 16 boys’ W6 1000 at the national waka ama regatta on Lake Karapiro.
The win underlined the decision to trial for the New Zealand team for the world championships — no mean feat for a crew of young men who have balanced all sorts of extra-curricular activity with their formal education.
Choir, kayaking, kapa haka, rugby and squash are just some of the activities that take up plenty of their time out of school.
But it has not affected school work for the boys, half of whom are total-immersion students.
If anything, it has enhanced it, instilling a discipline that has seen them pass NCEA exams with “quite high marks” and made coaching them a joy for Taiapa.
Getting them together for training has been difficult at times but, despite joking that “they go to a kapa haka festival for 72 hours and all I want from them is two hours”, Taiapa is fully supportive of their other interests.
“They’re very good boys, with very good family support.”
Taiapa was as relieved as he was delighted with their golden effort at the nationals.
“For me, it was a relief. We had done the training, it was just a matter of putting it together.”
Others played their part in it. The boys have combined their paddling with kayaking — under the coaching eyes of Olympic champion Alan Thompson and Aggie Czabo — and will compete in the flatwater canoe sprint nationals.
Taiapa was also grateful for the support of fellow club Horouta Waka Hoe, who lent them a racing waka. Turanga Ararau do not have a lot of resources and the boys had been training on a waka he described as “a barge” from the 1990s.
Taiapa said they were looking forward to the world championships, although they faced yet another challenge — the $24,000 needed to get the crew, coach and manager to Noumea.