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Text 'waka' to 4463 and support Porirua Canoe Kayak Club (Each text donates $3) Text 'waka' to 4463 and support Porirua Canoe Kayak Club (Each text donates $3)

Text 'waka' to 4463 and support Porirua Canoe Kayak Club (Each text donates $3)

The Porirua Canoe Kayak Club (PCKC) has 14 waka ama paddlers who have been selected to represent New Zealand at the IVF World Waka Ama Sprint Championships in Calgary, Canada in August 2012.

Our paddlers who have qualified for New Zealand selection all live and train locally in Porirua. Our contingent includes our under 16 junior boys crew, Aotearoa Whiti te Rā, our open women’s crew, Aotearoa Inano, and our Club Captain, Turi Hodges, who will be competing in a master men’s crew made up of top paddlers from around the country.

One of the unique and special aspects about our representative group is that there are so many whānau links amongst the paddlers. There are a couple of mother-and-son relationships, a husband-and-wife combination, and siblings and cousins spread across all of the paddlers! It really is a whānau affair.

The strong whānau dynamic amongst the elite paddlers within PCKC means that some of our whānau have 2 - 3 members travelling to Canada to compete. Whilst this is a huge honour and something that we are all very proud of, the flip side is that in a largely amateur like waka ama we all need to pay our own way to Canada.

As a club we are working really hard to fundraise and secure sponsorship to help us with the mammoth task of getting everyone to the World Championships. One venture we have just launched this month is a ‘text to sponsor’ campaign supported by a local mobile technology company in Wellington. The company has set up a number that people can text in to make a $3 donation to support us. PCKC also wanted to support other Porirua paddlers (not in the attached photo) to achieve their goals to attend the World Championships, so they were invited to participate in the text to sponsor campaign and receive a portion of the funds raised. These local Porirua paddlers include:

1. Grant Barriball (Mana Pasifika/Haeata)
2. Marty McDowell (Mana Pasifika/Pineula)
3. Caleb Wharepapa (Pineula)
4. Gaylene Sciascia (Hawaikii Nui)
5. Eve Tregerthan (Hawaikii Nui)
6. Marama Elkington (Aniuwaru)
7. Ohana Elkington (Aniuwaru)

PCKC has a history of living the value of whaka whanaungatanga and this was recently recognised at the 2012 NZ Waka Ama Nationals at Lake Karapiro where the club was awarded the Ace Cuthers Memorial Trophy. This was a very humbling experience for a small club such as ours and highlighted to us that the values that we live by are just as important as our performance on the water.

PCKC would like to acknowledge the support that they have received from various organisations, businesses, and individuals:
CityFitness Porirua: Complimentary gym membership.
Gary Moller: Nutritional advice and health supplements.
Hoe Tonga: Funding from Mana Community Grants Trust.
NZ Racing Board: Funding to purchase paddling equipment.
Ferg’s Kayaks: Discounted training apparel.
Porirua City Council: YAG Scholarship.
Marketing Solutions Ltd: Supplying Viper Va’a paddles at a discounted cost.
KE Design (Kaaterina Kerekere): Logo design.

Please help support paddlers from Porirua compete at the World Championships in Calgary by donating $3 towards our campaign. Text ‘Waka’ to 4463 (this campaign runs from Fri 8th June to Sun 8th July). Please see the attached flyer and be generous with your support!

Photo Gallery (click to enlarge)

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