Magical Marae

On Thursday the 12th of September the Nui syndicate were dropped off at Te Poho o Rawiri Marae, our school marae. Once everyone had arrived we had a powhiri and got welcomed onto the marae my the tangata whenua - Aunty Buba, Aunty Charlotte and Papa Albie. The tangata whenua told us about all the panels in the whare and some stories and legends.

We participated in a bunch of rotations in our groups like Maori games, Weaving, Honga and walking up Kaiti hill. My group walked up hundreds of stairs to get to the lookout of kaiti hill. We also played a fun game with sticks using left and right in maori. There were lots of other new and interesting activities too. We ate our packed lunch and had some delicious Nachos for dinner with ice blocks for dessert.  We had a concert with jump jam, ukulele, kapa haka and even stand up comedy!

The next day on Friday after a long night we were all exhausted, but after a torturous run we were starving as well. We were now the tangata whenua on the marae and were getting ready to welcome the Wai syndicate on as well. We had a Haka Powhiri and now the whole of Wainui Beach School was tangata whenua on the marae. We continued on with our rotations and learnt some string games and played handball. We had yummy hotdogs for lunch and then packed up ready to leave the marae. It was great fun but I was ready to go to bed by the time we got back to school.

Glorious Gille's Cup!

Yesterday afternoon the Wainui Beach School Thunder soccer team went down to Mangapapa school to challenge them for the Gille's cup. The school sent down about twenty kids to support us as well which was awesome. The Mangapapa school pitch was very bumpy and the goals were small compared to the ones we normally play with. The game began with me (Kya) in striker, Seve striker, Gavin left wing, Sam right wing, Ziggy centre mid, Charlie left back, Toby centre back and Shea Right back, Nikau in goal and Rory as a sub so he would have fresh legs to go on in fifteen minutes.

In the first half we managed to get two nice goals which had us in a comfortable lead. The atmosphere was amazing with both schools chanting and cheering. There must have been about one hundred supporters all together. We had a five minute rest and we all got some water and looked enviously at the delicious donuts that Charlie's dad had delivered for after the game.

In the second half Mangapapa had a few chances on goal but Nikau still looked bored and managed to take only two goal kicks in the end! We managed to get another two goals and then one final one at the very end. We were all puffed when the final whistle blew and Mangapapa hadn't given us an easy match. The trophy was presented, it was handmade of wood and painted with stars and a soccer ball. It is now on beautiful display in the school office! The final score was 5-0

Goals - Ziggy (1), Seve (1), me - Kya (2), Gavin (1).

The Thrilling Thunder

On the weekend the Wainui Thunder football team played our very final game of the season. We were playing our rivals Mangapapa. For about six or seven years Mangapapa have beaten Wainui in the finals and we have always received the silver medals. This year though, our team had beaten Mangapa twice with the scoreline about 8-1. We were at the top of the table and after winning the inter school tournament after a penalty shoot out, we were pumped and ready to take them on in the finals.

Our coach (my dad) told us our line up. We had Seve and I as strikers, Gavin left mid, Sam right mid, Ziggy centre mid, Charlie left back, Chester centre back and Toby as right back. Our old coach, and our current coach said some encouraging words and we went into our positions. Shea and Rory were our substitutes for now so that they would be fresh to put on soon! Mangapapa got into their positions and with us full of nerves and excitement the ref blew his whistle.

It was a great game, and our closest game of the season. After the first half was over, the score was only about 2-0. We started the second half with a couple of changes and managed to score another goal. After about 10 minutes into the second half we swapped our left mid with the left back and managed to score another couple. Finally it was the last play of the match and we were all buzzing with pride. The final whistle blew and we were filled with joy. After so many years Wainui had finally won. There was a short ceremony and we received two medals each and two trophies for our team. We had won the primary 'A' league and the knockout cup.