Green Light For National Māori Netball Tournament To Go Ahead At Easter

After a two-year hiatus, the 2022 National Māori Netball Tournament has been confirmed to go ahead and will be held at the CET Arena in Palmerston North from the 15th to the 17th of April.

The decision has not come without challenges for the Aotearoa Māori Netball Oranga Healthy Lifestyles (AMNOHL) National Executive who together with this year’s host waka – Ikaroa ki te Raki Māori Netball – will run the tournament as a My Vaccine Pass (MVP) only event, regardless of which traffic light setting the country will be at come Easter weekend.

National Assistant Coordinator, Parekura Cribb said the new Covid-19 Protection Framework (CPF) made it possible for events to take place at all stages with different restrictions at the Red, Orange, and Green traffic light settings. Strong public health measures will be in place including the requirement for all attendees 12 years, 3 months and over to be vaccinated; and the potential for a split venue if the country or hosting region is at Red.

It is expected that the CPF will provide waka attending, some degree of certainty in their planning. Cribb highlighted the impact of cancellations on whānau well-being with many suffering significant financial losses due to non-refundable travel and accommodation costs when the country first went into lockdown in 2020. This in turn led to increased mental and emotional stress and subsequently prompted an earlier decision from the executive to cancel the 2021 tournament.

The National Māori Netball Tournament draws over 2,500 players, volunteers and spectators annually across five age groups and ten Māori netball regions throughout the country (known as netball waka). Even more numbers are involved through the delivery of healthy lifestyle messaging in the regions using netball as the vehicle. Cribb says “That is our point of difference. We provide kotiro and their whānau with access to information, resources and support on a range of health related kaupapa using netball as the vehicle, so that they can make informed choices for themselves and incorporate new and improved practices into their daily lives. We provide opportunities for whānau to engage with te reo Māori me ōna tikanga, to establish and renew connections with kaumātua, marae, hapū and iwi. These are really important determinants of well-being for our whānau. On top of all that, we also play some pretty fantastic netball too.”

© Scoop Media