Hoe Tonga has chosen the dates for Regionals 2018 in Masterton: 24 and 25 November 2018, with a potential back up date of 15/16 December.

The Board has considered various date options, in order to balance various issues, including the potential re-occurence of weed (earlier is better) and avoiding clashes with other races. The Board is aware that 24/25 November clashes with the beginning of Vaka Eiva in Rarotonga. However, only a small number of paddlers usually attend from our region, and based on previous schedules, it appears that only the W1 races at Vaka Eiva may clash during that weekend, hence minimising the number of paddlers potentially affected.

The back up date has been chosen in case the weed occurs early and there is no time to clear it, to avoid having to cancel the event completely.

Hoe Tonga is the organisation representing Waka Ama (Outrigger Canoeing) interests in the lower North Island.  Hoe Tonga’s vision is for more people to participate in, enjoy and achieve in Waka Ama, and its mission is to lead, inspire and promote Waka Ama our region.

We are looking for a well organised and motivated person with great relationship skills to fill our newly created role of Regional Waka Ama Development Officer. This is an exciting opportunity to work alongside the Hoe Tonga Board and the waka ama community to grow the sport in the lower North Island. This role will take the lead on achieving the following objectives:

• increasing Hoe Tonga’s engagement with our clubs,
• facilitating the increase in the number of volunteers and competent coaches,
• increasing the number of schools and students participating in waka ama,
• facilitating the establishment of clubs in areas not currently served by waka ama clubs.

Please click here to download a job description with further details.

To register your interest, please apply in writing, along with your CV and forward your application, to joern.scherzer@gmail.com, by no later than 6pm Monday 30th April 2018. If you have any questions, please contact Joern on 021-1250997.

Hoe Tonga would like to congratulate  our paddlers who have made the New Zealand teams to paddle at  the IVF World Elite Sprint  Championship

Successful Hoe Tonga Paddlers are:

Marama Elkington           Open Women

Marianna Hodges           Open Women

Paddy Rimene               Open Men

Ducati Walford               Development Men

The full list of crews can be seen on the link below.

http://wakaama.co.nz/stories/read/1004764

Hoe Tonga getting Around

We are getting out and about, introducing ourselves and learning more about the clubs. Please if you are having a club committee/ executive meeting we will would welcome the opportunity for one of our board members to attend. Let us know when your club meetings are on by sending an email to hoetonga@gmail.com.

For those interested in more detail, you can find minutes of the Hoe Tonga Board meetings at https://hoetonga.co.nz/about-2/governance-board/meetings/

Regionals wrap up

At the end of 2017, we had our most successful regionals to date in terms of participant numbers with over 500 paddlers participating on the day and nearly 130 races.

• The first time where we had all volunteers sorted prior to the event without any gaps for stations.
• Holding the 12 man races on Saturday allowed the event to run to time on the Sunday and add addition races
• We had some complications with water quality and weed. This was an additional cost and took significant effort to clear before the races. Masterton District Council Hoe Tonga is working to alter the lakes water flow to allow more fresh water to flow into the lake improving the water quality and reducing the weeds. This will go to the resource consent stage in the middle of 2018, and we are looking to strongly support this action.

Paddler Series planning

• We have received interest from clubs wanting to host races in this year’s long distances paddler series during winter.
• There was some concern about the point system last year and Hoe Tonga invited feedback from clubs on this. We will be maintaining the point system from last year, but adding a stipulation around competing in one division – more details to come.
• Races will be approximately 4 weeks apart.
• Dates and information will be available on the HT website, and HT Facebook, likely from late March.

Regional Development Officer

• We are in contract negotiations with Sport Wellington, in order to lock in the funding that they approved in principle. We are hoping to the RDO in place by the middle of 2018, initial funding is for one year to deliver on key objectives such as growth for waka ama in schools.

Strategic plan

• Our strategic plan 2014-2018 will need to be replaced with a new one. We will be in touch with clubs in the next couple of months with details for a workshop to start that process.

Go to https://wp.me/p7gD9I-1xX to find out more.

If you don’t already know the Waka Hourua:  Haunui, , Hinemoana, and Gaualofa are planning to make their way to the Porirua Harbour on Thursday, 1st March 2018.  Hotu Barclay-Kerr kaihautu of Haunui has asked  to send this notice out to you all to let you know that the Waka Hourua will be in the Porirua Harbour from this Thursday through to Sunday.  Therefore whānau if you haven’t yet had the chance to see the waka hourua and their respective crews pop on down to the Mana Cruising Club, Ngāti Toa Domain, Pascoe Avenue, Mana from Thursday.