The Māori All Blacks have one, the New Zealand Māori Rugby League have one, and now the Māori Football team has one. Te Kāea was invited to view their haka before its debut this weekend.
A Māori challenge to soccer teams around the world. It's Māori Football New Zealand's own haka and it was composed and created by the players.
New Zealand Māori Football athelete Sean Clark told Te Kāea, “It's based on why we're here, our legacy and it's about being, you know if we're here, we're ready, we're representing our whānau and our people and our iwi and you know we're ready to go.”
The U19 boys’ team, Kahukura will debut their haka this weekend when they take on Papua New Guinea at the Oceania Football Confederation qualifiers.
Head coach Phil Parker says, “We own our own haka, so we don't have to look to other national sporting teams and stuff and try to replicate their haka, we've composed our own haka that's very special and talks about our journey so far. But also it’s composed of the players and the Te Kāea themselves.”
18-year-old Clark admits he didn't expect to learn so much about himself when he came to this seven-day soccer camp.
“I think I knew one boy here and they're all, some of them are 14, 15 and I felt like I've known them for years. We've all got the connection, so of us are even related quite closely and we dont even know that,” says Clark.
“They stepped up straight away and what's happened as they've stepped up they've pulled everyone up with them. It's really exciting in that we're really seeing some internal growth,” says Parker.
Phil and the players hope that the haka is what the team needs to win.