Waka Ama Sport Development Plan – The Model

 Our goal is to create a visual model that represents the whole sport of Waka Ama (Va’a, Vaka, Outrigger Canoeing). The model will be used as a tool to identify where our sport is currently and help us create a Sport Development plan towards achieving our goals and vision, where we want to be. It will have identifiable pathways for our Athletes, Coaches, Officials and Administrators. It will be simple and easy for our members to understand and identify where they fit in the pathway and what they need to do to progress to all aspects of our sport.

The Paddle - Hoewai (The Broad bladed paddle)

 When we paddle our waka we set the blade of the paddle into the water, the people pull the paddle to make our waka move forward. The paddle is also used to steer our waka in the direction we want it to go. We can look at it as the Waka being our sport, the Blade of the paddle being our infrastructure and the People are what make our sport happen.

For our Sport Development model we will use the blade of the Hoewai (the broad bladed paddle). The blade of the paddle has four quarters joined together by the spine of the blade.

In order for the blade of the paddle to be stable through the water all four quarters must be equal, our blade must be symmetrical.

The strength of our blade is in spine, the spine holds the blade together and stops the blade from breaking.

 In this case the four quarters of the blade will represent the four key areas of our sport.

·        Athlete

·        Coach

·        Officials, Events and Coach/Athlete support

·        Sport Administration

The Spine of the blade will represent everything that makes our sport special and unique, this is what makes people want a have lifetime involvement in our sport. Our sports backbone and foundations come from:

·        Tikanga

·        History

·        Whanaungatanga

·        Core Values

The Back of the Blade - The Athlete and Coach Pathway

 This is the side of the blade that all the paddlers in the waka see as they are looking forward. This side sets the structures that support the people who represent Waka Ama and are seen by those not yet involved in our sport.

It is necessary for us to put in place structures to create pathways for both our Athletes and our Coaches so that anyone can be involved in our sport and progress to a level that is suitable to their ability. This model shows both a pathway for the Athlete and the Coach, it is very clear that in order for our athletes to progress from an entry level (Explore and Learn phase) through to an Elite level (Excel) we need to have an identical system for our Coaches (Foundation Coach to High Performance Coach).

Please see attached documents for the full Waka Ama Sport Development Plan

Waka Ama NZ Coaching Development Pathway