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August 19, 2022
Māori sports authority chance to grow codes
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira
Posted On August 19, 2022
Download AudioThe chair of the new national Māori sports authority Te Huinga Tākaro o Aotearoa, Mark Tito, says kotahitanga should help separate codes access the funding they need to grow their sports.
Seed funding for the new body comes out of Covid relief funding channelled through Sport NZ- Ihi Aoteroa.
That will help to set up an office and hire a management team to work with the various codes to strengthen their infrastructure.
Mr Tito says from his experience with Māori Golf, Māori codes are used to their athletes and activities being overlooked.
“Eighty-five of 86 years in existence, not once have we received government funding. I don’t think I’m out of line talking for a majority of Māori codes, they have to seek funding from elsewhere to survive and in reality, they do bloody well,” he says.
Mr Tito says the $1.2 million is a drop in the bucket and Te Huinga Tākaro will need to find other sources of long-term funding.
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