On Friday 24 March, CBHS entered their first ever team into the Canterbury Kī o Rahi Tournament. Coach / Captain Brigham Riwai-Couch (Year 12) organised the team, supported by Teone Arahanga-Martindale and Mr Ferguson. 

Of Māori origin, Kī o Rahi is growing in popularity with 16 teams from Canterbury secondary schools entering this year’s tournament. It uses a range of skills similar to those used in touch and basketball, and is played with a round ball on a large circular field.

Despite having only three practices in the lead up to the tournament CBHS was undefeated in their pool beating Christchurch Girls’ High School +25-0, Burnside A 10-8, and Burnside B 12-9. CBHS went on to play Darfield A in a very heated, intense quarter-final. CBHS were victorious 12-9.

A unique feature of this Kī o rahi tournament was the opportunity for teams to negotiate terms before commencing play, for instance, the number of players on the field, composition of the team if playing mixed, (boys or girls), and the number of subs able to take the field. Negotiations worked in CBHS’s favour in the semi-final against Lincoln, as they wasted a significant amount of time in which they could have scored. Negotiations worked significantly against CBHS in the final as they had to play with only 5 players on the field while Linwood manipulated the rules in order to be able to field a full team of 6.

During the Grand Final against Linwood points ping-ponged between the two teams and the atmosphere was crazy. In the end it was simply too hard to mark 6 players on defence with only 5 CBHS players on the field; resulting in victory for Linwood College and CBHS placed second overall.

The boys played amazingly and showed stunning skill and talent in the games, particularly for boys who had never played competitively in the sport before. Thank you to all of the whānau, friends and CBHS supporters who came to watch and support us. The CBHS Kī o rahi team will be looking for vengeance and thirsting for a 1st place win the upcoming Term 3 tournament. These young men represented the School extremely well and have done the CBHS community proud. 

Altiora Peto.

The Team

Coach/Captain: Brigham Riwai-Couch
Manager: Mr Guy Ferguson
Co-Captain/Assistant Coach: Teone Arahanga-Martindale
Players: Etelani Pouli, Bob Leitu, Max Hughes, Izaia Thompson, Cali Thompson, Hosanna Leota, Lotoni Kolo, Poni Sua, Sione Kaetau, Sofi Leaaetoa, Taine Tracy and Dieter Nifo.

Kī o Rahi - a brief explanation

Kī o Rahi is a team sport based on the purakau (legend) of Rahitutakahina and the rescue of his wife Tiarakurapakewai. It is played between two teams called kioma and taniwha on a large circular field. There are four quarters, during which time each team swaps roles.

Kīoma score by touching pou/s (sticks placed around the perimeter) with the Kī (ball) then running the Kī through Te Roto (the centre) and scoring touch style in the Pawero (inner circle). The more pou you struck previously the more points you get.

Taniwha score by hitting the Tupu (centre barrel) with the Kī. Kīoma will have Kaitiaki (guardians) around the Tupu to stop Taniwha from hitting the Tupu. Depending on which variation is being played, Taniwha must stop Kīoma from scoring by touching the player with the Kī twice, which leads to handover.