Awesome to see such a great event in Mainstream media. What an amazing way to showcase our great sport and illustrate how supportive our local teams are of our local events. To those competing this weekend, good luck and most of all have fun.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/104888384/hundreds-set-to-chop-up-wellington-harbour-for-waka-ama-challenge

The Hoe Tonga Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Mataiawhea Te Kere as Hoe Tonga’s new Regional Development Officer. He will take the lead on the delivery of Hoe Tonga’s KiwiSport contract with Sport Wellington, working closely with schools and clubs. He will also be the first point of contact for paddlers and clubs at Hoe Tonga, as his role also encompasses the previous administrator role. Mataiawhea will already be known to many in the region, as he is also a keen and competitive paddler.

At the same time, the Board would like express its sincere thanks to Gaylene Sciascia for carrying the administrator batton for quite a number of years. She was the often the first point of contact, and the link between paddlers and clubs on one hand, and Hoe Tonga on the other hand. She helped organise various regional events, and many of those tasks are often unseen by most paddlers and supporters.

The original administrator role was set up as waka ama grew. Our regional membership has more than trippled since 2008. As a result, Hoe Tonga’s role has become bigger, and so we needed to transition from a purely voluntary organisation to one that was supported by dedicated personnel. Initially there was insufficient funding to enable us to have more than a part-time administrator. However, last year Hoe Tonga was successful in securing funding for a regional development role to further grow waka ama in schools, and this has enabled the establishment of a near full-time RDO role. The role is initially limited to one year, but our intention is to secure funding to maintain the role beyond June 2019.

Panui for Race 1 of the Hoe Tonga Paddler Series, to be held on 2 June, is now available: https://hoetonga.wordpress.com/2018/04/02/hoe-tonga-paddler-series-2018/

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.

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.

As part of the implementation of the Aukaha Project, a project designed to strengthen Waka Ama in Aotearoa, Waka Ama NZ, in collaboration with the Hoe Tonga Pacifica Waka Ama Association is seeking a talented and motivated individual to join the team as Regional Development Coordinator for the Hoe Tonga region. 

Based in the Hoe Tonga region, as Regional Development Coordinator, you will drive and facilitate the growth and development of Waka Ama in the region. You will also coordinate the planning and delivery of the Regional Qualifying Event and other targeted events alongside Hoe Tonga Board.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Drive the implementation of the Regional plan in collaboration with the Hoe Tonga Board.
• Build relationships with member clubs, identifying key points of contact and gathering insights on competencies, strengths, challenges, and areas for development.
• Facilitate the development and capabilities of volunteers.
• Establish and promote opportunities for volunteer recruitment and retention.
• Facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing among clubs and stakeholders.
• Develop and implement communication and marketing strategies to increase awareness and profile of Waka Ama in the region.
• Drive participation opportunities with stakeholders.
• Coordinate the planning and delivery of the Regional Qualifying Event and other key events, exploring event partnership and funding opportunities.
• Manage and develop existing and new stakeholder relationships that will enhance Waka Ama in the region.

As the successful candidate, you will have:

• Knowledge and experience in the sport and recreation sector, with an understanding of club and school sport.
• Experience in sport development and event management.
• Proven project management, stakeholder relationship, and strategy implementation experience.
• Strong communication and project management skills.
• Workshop facilitation and leadership skills.
• Empathy with and the ability to engage volunteers.
• The ability to create and unlock opportunities for Waka Ama to thrive in the region.
• Proven ability and experience using te reo, tikanga, and te ao Māori concepts.
• Clean New Zealand Driver’s license and reliable transport.
• The ability to work after hours and weekends as required.

Benefits:

• Work from home 
• Flexible working hours (20 hrs per week)
• Mobile phone + laptop
• Staff apparel
• Supportive organisation

About us:

Waka Ama NZ is the leading body of the Sport of Waka Ama in Aotearoa. We have a rich history and connection to tangata whenua and foster the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We have a small and tight knit team who are passionate about water, community, our sport and the people we work with. 

Our organisational values are:

• Manaakitanga: We encourage the practice of reciprocity through sharing of ourselves and our resources, nurturing all people and accepting our differences. 
• Whanaungatanga: Our sense of belonging, identification and collective strength, not only through kinship but being related to all within the Waka Ama community. 
• Hauora: We support and promote the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being of all our participants. 
• Tū Tangata: We are accountable for our actions. We have respect for each other, our waka and our environment. We stand proud in our integrity and passion.

We pride ourselves on our supportive and collaborative team culture, and we are looking for someone who shares our values and is committed to the development of Waka Ama in this region.

For more information and a copy of the Job Description, please contact Aukaha Project Manager, Trevor Meiklejohn, at trevor@wakaama.co.nz

Applications close on Friday, November 8, 2024.

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.wordpress.com/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.