YMP Hockey Club Wins Matariki Award On Centenary Weekend

The New Zealand Amateur Sport Association Inc. is pleased to announce that the 2023 Te Tohu Tiketike o Matariki award has been won by the YMP Hockey Club, (Gisborne), as it celebrates the centenary of its founding, 100 years ago.

The winner of the award was announced today by Association Patron, Andy Leslie, ONZM who convened the judging panel.

The award, decided in collaboration with Te Upoko o te Ika, Aotearoa’s first te reo Māori radio station, acknowledges a community sport organisation which embraces te reo Māori as part of its kaupapa. The award also acknowledges National Volunteer Week (Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu), with the winner reliant on volunteers to deliver competitive sport to its local community.

Andy Leslie said that “for over a century, community hockey in the Tairāwhiti region has played a key role in bringing people and cultures together “for the love of the game”. The YMP Hockey Club, closely associated with the Rugby Union club of the same name, has provided opportunities for both women and men to participate in an inclusive game which celebrates the values of sport and the importance of tikanga in sport, which is so important to the people of the region.”

Association Chairman Gordon Noble-Campbell said that “the Tairāwhiti region has been severely affected by recent weather events, which have presented local sport communities with many challenges. The values of sport in providing people with an opportunity to connect with others despite these challenges is reflective of the values that YMP Hockey Club continues to promote to all of its participants and supporters.”

Adrian Tangaroa Wagner, General Manager of Te Upoko o te Ika said that “community sport is an important way for te reo Māori to become more familiar to a larger number of people, with this year’s winner demonstrating how this can become an integral part of our overall approach to building healthy communities through sport”.

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