Kia ora e te whānau,

My name is Rahiti Teokotai-White, Senior Master at Argyle House. I am currently in my second year at Argyle House and in my fifth year of teaching at Hamilton Boys’ High School. In the day school, I am currently Year 13 Dean and teach both Physical Education and English.

While I have lived in Hamilton for most of my life, if you were to ask me where my hometown is, I would still say Tokoroa (a much cooler town than Dunoon I might add). I lived in Tokoroa for most of my childhood going through St. Luke’s Punanga Reo and Cargill School. Like many people from Tokoroa, I have a big Cook Island family. We moved to Hamilton when I started intermediate - at the same time, my older brothers Matthew and Stanton were starting Years 9 & 13 at Hamilton Boys’ and my sister, Serene, was starting Year 11 at Hamilton Girls’. Initially, Matt was enrolled into Argyle House (I can remember coming on the tour as a Year 6 and thinking how cool it would be to board) before my Mum and Dad decided to move all of us up to the big smoke.

Our family back in the Tokoroa days — Image by: Rahiti Teokotai-White

I went to Peachgrove Intermediate and then made the long walk across the road to Hamilton Boys’ High School in 2007 where I went through Year 9 - 13. In my final year as a student, I was lucky enough to be appointed to the position of Head Prefect and was the second in my family to do so after Serene was Head Girl at Hamilton Girls’ in 2007.

Many parents and students know me as “The Water Polo Guy” at school, and to be fair, that’s not too far off. I actually started playing in my Peachgrove Intermediate days - because I was a very fast swimmer, and my brothers both played when they started at Hamilton Boys’, my arm was pretty easily twisted into giving it a crack. My first ever game was against Hamilton West and I remember it pretty vividly. I absolutely hated it. I kept getting water in my eyes and it stung, I had absolutely no idea what any of the rules were and I got marked by these two girls who spent the whole game kicking and scratching me. Because I didn’t enjoy it, after my first game in Year 7 I dropped it for the year… although out of this horror story, one of the girls who was kicking and scratching me ended up being my future fiancee, Kelsi (our wedding is later this year and we are really excited about it), so you could say not all bad! I was convinced to give it another go in Year 8 by the lure of AIMS games. The second time around, I loved it. I played all my way through school for various Waikato age group sides as well as the Hamilton Boys’ Premier team (although back then we were in the B division) and started coaching in Year 12.

The Girls that almost made me quit Water Polo — Image by: Rahiti Teokotai-White

Not quite as good as Mr. Thomson and Keiran's Hobbiton pic, but Kelsi and I as Napoleon Dynamite and Pedro — Image by: Rahiti Teokotai-White

In coaching I found a real passion. I started off coaching both the Hamilton Boys’ Junior B team in Year 12 and coaching swimming as a job (to shout all the boys hot cookies from the canteen) with these experiences causing a career change as I was initially looking to go into medicine when I finished school. I went from coaching the Junior B team to working my way through the levels with Waikato coaching Under 14, Under 16, Under 18, and eventually Senior Men. Through my successes with Waikato and Hamilton Boys’ High School, I have earned a range of roles with New Zealand Water Polo coaching at various New Zealand Age Group levels and getting the opportunity to travel the world, going to both the Under 20 World Championships in Serbia in 2017 and Under 18 World Championships in Hungary in 2018 with trips around Europe attached to both. I have also coached the New Zealand Secondary Schools Side for 3 separate Trans-Tasman campaigns. My favourite accomplishment through coaching though, is definitely leading Hamilton Boys’ to our first National title last year, which would have been unthinkable when I was a student. I don’t apologise for being so passionate about it, and love that we have so many Hostel boys that are keen to give the sport a go. Outside of Water Polo I am a huge sports fan (you kind of have to be to teach PE) and am one of those mad people that wakes up at stupid o' clock to watch the English Premier League (much to Kelsi’s disgust) as well as being a classic Kiwi sports fan watching rugby, league and cricket at all levels.

The HBHS NISS and NZSS Championship Winning Team of 2021 — Image by: Rahiti Teokotai-White

At the risk of opening myself up to a bit of abuse, I'm a pretty huge football fan - me at the Emirates Stadium — Image by: Rahiti Teokotai-White

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Hostel so far. My role in the Hostel involves working alongside the student leadership to ensure the smooth running of Argyle House and the Matthew Allen Cup as well as supporting Mr McKenzie with a range of tasks to ensure that conditions at Argyle House are as ideal as possible for your son to learn, enjoy himself and stay safe. If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to contact me, I’m always happy to have a chat.

Man of the Week for Term 2, Week 5