Article added: Sunday 08 September 2024

By Isabella Root

Fiji’s netball team were brought to tears by an emotional pōhiri welcoming them to their first-ever Zespri AIMS Games.

International athletes were greeted with a powerful kapa haka performance by Tauranga Intermediate School pupils on Saturday ahead of the city’s biggest intermediate-aged sports tournament.

The games have not yet begun but St Anne’s Primary School has already made a lifetime of memories. 

Earlier this week, the team - dubbed the Suva Ferns - were surprised with a visit from Vilimaina Davu, the former international star who represented both Fiji and New Zealand.

“This exposure will be a life changing event for the girls to come to New Zealand, the most fierce netball nation,” spokesperson Laisa Matairakula said.

The team was also apologetically late to the pōhiri due to some car troubles en route from Auckland to Tauranga, but Matairakula said they were “relieved” to have finally made it.

Dressed in traditional Fijian Tapa dresses, the girls were visibly touched by the haka and tapped their feet to the rhythm of Māori waiata. 

Matairakula was brought to tears by the welcoming. 

“I’m a sucker for tradition, and I’ve always loved how Māori people try to preserve their culture.

“You go to a marae, you see the carvings, and how passionate they are about their culture. It’s sacred to them, and I can relate because I have it too back home.”

Gospel Primary School showed their gratitude by performing a patriotic song and Fijian national war dance. 

Coach Ice Tamani felt the pōhiri was “so warm, so friendly. It felt special”. 

It is the third year Gospel Primary has competed in rugby sevens at the AIMS Games.

Ice said the team’s plan for this year was to make the quarterfinals. “The rest is luck, we’ll do our best.”

In preparation, the boys arrived a week earlier and have spent some time training with their biggest rivals, Te Puke Intermediate School. 

“We know they’re defending champions, so we wanted to see what they did in their training. We were exposed to a lot of skill work,” Ice said.

Team captain Opeti Tikoisuve, 13, said the team had “trained hard” and was ready to rematch Te Puke Intermediate after being defeated two years in a row. “I want to win.”

Tauranga Intermediate School principal Cameron Mitchell said the pōhiri was a “wonderful way to welcome our international whānau”. “It culturally connects visitors from the Pacific Islands”.

Tauranga City Council representative Gareth Wallis said it was exciting to see the Fiji students “experience a genuine pōhiri”. 

“I think it’s so important that we welcome people to our city in the right way, especially people that have travelled a long way.”