The Gisborne Boardriders Club (GBC) East Coast surfing initiative is not just about catching waves but connecting whānau to the taiao and the moana through the shared experience of surfing.
Last year Trust Tairāwhiti granted the GBC $120k towards the Surf for Life East Coast project, enabling them to install containers at Tokomaru Bay, Waipiro Bay and Wharekahika with equipment to provide surfing programmes for those communities.
The containers are filled with surfboards and wetsuits so people of all ages, from toddlers to pakeke, can get involved and enjoy surfing.
GBC surfing development manager Flo Bub says the initiative provides surfing opportunities for communities that otherwise face barriers to participating.
“We are incredibly proud to see our vision come to life; tamariki and whānau connecting with the moana and each other and sharing the stoke.
“We have learned there is more appetite from communities around the Cape, and we look forward to duplicating what we have done the last few years up the Coast.”
Earlier this year, the initiative enabled the first Ngāti Porou primary surfing competition at Wharekahika beach, bringing together ninety tamariki from Uawa to Maraenui in the Opōtiki district.
Flo Bub says there are plans to expand this kaupapa by hosting a secondary school event and a competition run entirely in te reo māori.
“Surfing competitions along the Coast provide more opportunities for whakawhānaungātanga (establishing relationships) and being physically active within the natural environment.”
90 tamariki participated in first Ngāti Porou primary surfing competition
