This year during Youth Week 2023, the event Toa Wars will provide opportunities for rangatahi to compete against other schools through a series of games and skill development opportunities, this event will occur in the rural community of Ratana, and we will invite all schools in the Whanganui and Rangitikei region that have rangatahi in year 8 to participate.
Toa Wars will be the main interschool competition. Toa is a game we were privileged to learn during our work with the rangatahi of Te Kura o Kokohuia here in Whanganui. The game is a mixture of Capture the Flag, Tag, and Ripper Rugby and is played ideally on a playground or obstacle course. The object of the game is for teams to work together to capture the ripper tags of the opposing team and return them to their teams' designated area; lose both of your ripper tags, you are out of the game; once all the ripper tags from the opposing team are collected the game is over, and the winning team is declared.
As part of this event, we will also have a variety of other activities throughout the day to keep rangatahi engaged; there will be a Rugby Skills and Drills session, the ability to learn and play Ki O Rahi, 3×3 Basketball and 3×3 Wheelchair Basketball, a variety of Ngā Taonga Takaro will be taught and explored as well as having the Play Trailer available for self-directed play. We will also be looking to engage with the people of Ratana to examine the whakapapa of the settlement with the rangatahi on the day.