Women & Girls Connect Group launches ‘Hakinakina Wāhine’

The sound of laughter filled the air as the Manukau Tennis Centre filled with young wahine from South Auckland primary schools for the inaugural Hakinakina Wāhine Festival.

The end product of brainstorming and team work – this event was made possible thanks to our CLM Community Sport Women & Girls connect group, a panel of wāhine employed to grow the number of women & girls in sport throughout Counties Manukau.

The panel has grown into more than a networking group, says CLM Community Sport Women and Girls Lead Cynthia Ta'ala-Timaloa – it is also an opportunity to share stories of success and celebrate the important mahi done to grow sport, play and active recreation opportunities for wahine out South,

“When we created the panel it was mainly to bring our leads together and hold space for our mahi – in such a short time it has grown into much more than that”

Cynthia goes on to say, “Hakinakina Wahine is an example of what’s possible through collaboration”.  

Hakinakina Wāhine - a successful launch

300+ students from 10 schools participated in the day, enjoying activations from 9 different codes across 12 activation stations.

Student feedback from the day has been overwhelmingly positive, with one student from Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School, when asked what they loved most about the day responded, “How we all played as a community and had fun”.

Another student from Koru School shared, “my favourite part was meeting other people from other schools and making new friends and playing new games”.

The hope is this event becomes an annual fixture, with new activations added to enhance the experience for young wahine, says Cynthia

“If this year was anything to go by, next year will be bigger and better! I’m looking forward to working with our connect group to review and look to the future”.

This event wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the following organisations: Papatoetoe Olympic Weightlifting Club, Counties Manukau Badminton, Franklin Basketball, Auckland Basketball Services, Warriors Community Foundation, Auckland Rugby Union, Counties Manukau Cricket, Auckland Cricket Association, Counties Manukau Rugby League, Auckland Rugby League, Volleyball New Zealand, Netball Northern, Northern Regional Football, Heart Foundation, New Zealand Police, Cancer Society of New Zealand & Moana Pasifika.

A special acknowledgement to Tennis Auckland for the use of the Manukau Tennis Centre, The Warriors Community Foundation, Butchers Block & Leonards for their support with the Sausage Sizzle,  ‘Gia’s Grab & Go’ for providing kai for our providers and volunteers as well as Bakers Delight for their support.