After a three-year break because of Covid-19, the national basketball tournament for intermediate schools has restarted.
The line-up includes a team from Hamilton, Te Ngā Taiātea Wharekura and its coach Roimata Harahap who is just 15 years old.
Harahap wants more rangatahi to achieve in the sport and has her own aspiration to be an international coach like her relative, former Tall Black Pero Cameron.
This week at the Rotorua Energy Events Centre 38 schools and close to 1000 basketball players showed off their talents on the courts over a four-day tournament.
Back to shooting hoops for these rangatahi.
Rotorua played host for the 10th year running the tournament for the central region of schools from Waikato, Hauraki, Tauranga, Waiariki, Tuwharetoa and surrounding areas. There are another three regions playing in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Basketball Rotorua’s Rangitihi Pene is thrilled to see so many rangatahi playing the game they love and he says the way they have been playing over the past few days it’s as if games hadn’t been cancelled for the past three years due to Covid 19.
"There are some great skills on display and, although there have been no games for all this time, these kids have been able to maintain and improve their game. Well done also to great coaches," Pene says.
Meanwhile, the Nga Taiātea Wharekura coach says she is doing this to give back to her kura.
"I broke my leg playing touch earlier this year and has put me out of competition,” Harahap says.
“I love the game of basketball and made the choice to coach our boys. This will give me the experience to achieve my ultimate goal which is to one day coach the NZ Tall Blacks like my relative Pero Cameron," she says.
Basketball athletes are identified in each region as they play in local competitions and regional tournaments around New Zealand. They are invited to clusters held in Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton to get NZ Basketball training in playing and coaching.
Basketball New Zealand holds “clusters” for players and potential coaches in each region, which includes assistant coaching programmes and other opportunities.
Rangitihi Pene is also excited to see a new competition this year, called Tauihi. Women can now stay in New Zealand and play at a professional level and get paid. Tauihi is also a platform for aspiring coaches to gain experience at a professional level.
Secret to winning - Te Reo Māori
This year's tournament has been tough for Harahap and her boys from Nga taiātea Wharekura as the majority were not basketball players but champions of rugby league. "They are getting better after every game. They have done themselves proud, whānau, kura, hapu and iwi.
“I must say though it is our Reo Māori that helps get us our wins because the opposition doesn’t have a clue what we are about to do – it’s pretty cool," Harahap says.
The Intermediate schools competition was followed by secondary schools again in the four regions. The secondary schools were gunning for a position to represent their region at the national secondary schools' basketball tournament later this year.
