Twelve tauira started the Tākaro Pāpāho programme this week - a joint initiative supported by the media sector to grow the next generation of te reo Māori sports commentators.
“Kua whakatōhia te kākano pāpāho hei whakapakari [i] tō tātau reo rangatira i runga i ngā mahi hākinakina,” says Hemana Waaka, a trailblazer for te reo Māori sports commentary.
“Ko te tīmatanga tēnei e taea ai te pīhuka mai i tēnā, i tēnā tauira.”
Kia ūkaipō anō te reo Māori
The pilot programme introduces te reo Māori speakers from around the motu to sports commentary, helping them build language, technical and broadcasting skills across rugby and rugby league.
Around 50 people applied, with 12 selected to take part. The programme is supported by Ngā Aho Whakaari, Sky, Whakaata Māori and TVNZ.
“It’s very significant for a network like Sky,” says Gary Burchett, Head of Content at Sky, also known by its Māori name, Rangiata.
“If you want to tell stories effectively in a country like Aotearoa, you’ve gotta talk in people’s tongues, that’s where the connection happens.”
Burchett says Sky is airing a total of 16 te reo Māori sports broadcasts across rugby union and rugby league this year.
“It’s a statement for Sky about broadening our range of storytelling.”
Kia pāho ki te iwi tūmatanui
Waaka says the industry has come a long way since he first started nearly four decades ago.
“Toru tekau mā waru tau ki muri, ka tīmata ahau ki te mahi i tēnei, ko ahau anake.”
At the time, there were few resources available for te reo Māori sports commentary.
“[I] hōhā au ki te whakamāori i ngā kupu Pākehā, ka huri ki te reo Māori ki ngā hākinakina,” he adds.
“Mā te Māori anō e tiki i ana ake kupu.”
Since then, mātanga reo and commentators have expanded the puna kupu for sports commentary, with te reo Māori broadcasts now reaching mainstream viewers.
At the 2011 Rugby World Cup, 16 matches were broadcast with te reo Māori commentary on the Te Reo channel.
By the 2023 Rugby World Cup, every All Blacks match featured te reo Māori commentary on mainstream television, drawing about 100,000 viewers across Sky Sport 2 and Sky Open. The coverage was led by Te Aorere Pewhairangi and Tumamao Harawira, both of whom Waaka says he has proudly mentored over the years.
He pūkenga, he haepapa nui
Waaka acknowledges the skill involved, saying that commentators need to know both the language and the sport well, and be able to communicate clearly during a live broadcast.
“Me koi koe ki ngā kupu o te tākaro, me koi ki ngā ture o te tākaro, ngā whakapapa o tērā tīma,” he explains.
Sports broadcaster Melodie Robinson says te reo Māori commentary offers more than a mere translation.
“One of the reasons te reo Māori commentary is so special and different is not just that they bring in whakapapa, but also humour,” she says.
“Sports has [a] real important role in revitalising te reo Māori for that wider population in New Zealand,” says Robinson.
A key goal of the programme is to encourage more wāhine Māori into sports commentary. Te Raunatanga Whakaara is one of five wāhine taking part this year.
“He ngātahitanga o ētahi mea e rua e tino rata ana au. Nā, ko te hākinakina tērā, otirā ko tō tātau reo Māori tērā, kua whakakotahi, kua ngātahi kia puta ai ko Tākaro Pāpāho,” she says.
Mentors, including Robinson, were there to support the kaupapa.
“It was really difficult being the first female broadcaster in rugby,” Robinson says.
“We’ve seen such a change. We’ve got Honey Hireme [Smiler], we’ve got Ruby Tui working at the BBC, many other women across different sports.”
“But even better will be if we bring in te reo Māori commentary, is something that is done every single time there is a big sport event,” says Robinson.
Whakaara hopes to fill her kete and someday secure commentary gigs at major whakataetae - even the Olympics.
“Ki te ora tō tātau reo i roto i te ao hākinakina, koia, kua ea ōku wawata,” says Whakaara.
Morrison says three more Tākaro Pāpaho wānanga will be held this year.
