Ki O Rahi — Back Row L-R: Maringi Huia, Mele Peseta, Shana Ali, Shyloh Purdon, Hineata Purdon 2nd Row L-R: Anahera Beatty, Sela Moala, Olivia McIntyre, Trilly Stewart, Kate Munro Front Row L-R: Jayanna Tia, Leilani Wilcox-Nanai, Aliyah Teimey-Lambert, Isabella Luhetoa, Nawy Ken Lom  by CGHS

Ki O Rahi

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At the end of Term 2, our Ki-o-rahi teams participated in the first ever ‘girls’ division at the Canterbury Secondary Schools Ki-o-rahi tournament.

Kī-o-rahi is a Maori ball sport played with a small round ball called a 'kī'. It is a fast-paced game incorporating skills similar to rugby union, netball and touch. Two teams of seven players play on a circular field divided into zones, and score points by touching the 'pou' (boundary markers) and hitting a central 'tupu' or target.

Both our teams were full of talented players from a number of our other school sports teams. The girls played with a lot of heart but were not able to match the experience of the other teams.

In Term 3, we were able to join with Christchurch Boys’ High School to enter two teams into the mixed tournament. Both teams played extremely well with the ‘A’ winning a number of challenging games against some very talented teams from schools who have been playing Ki-o-rahi for a number of years.

Both tournaments offered a great opportunity to see how seriously some of the other schools take this emerging sport. We look forward to using the experience to help improve the skills of our players in anticipation of next years’ tournaments. Thanks must be given to Aliyah Teirney – Lambert, as the head of Ki-o-rahi who did a wonderful job in organising our teams and to ARA for organising the tournaments.

As a new sport in the school, it will be great to watch it grow in the future.