Mo te wa tuatahi, he karapu Strongman no te Tonga o Tāmaki ka whakahaere i ngā kōwhiringa ki te tātawhainga Tuakoi Tonga ki Te Riu o Waikato hei te Poutū te rangi.
Hei tā Afaese Paea, “Once upon a time we only had five events in any given 12 months. We now have 12 or more events that the guys can do so it’s growing not as fast as other sports but it’s getting there”.
Ka whakahuihui atu i ngā tino toki o Aotearoa ki a tohua ko wai eke ki te huinga matua i te ao. Rikarika ana a Afaese Paea rātou ko tana kapa, kua waiho mai mā rātou ngā manuwhiri o te ao hei manaaki.
“New Zealand we have won most of the titles in Aussie, but the Aussie’s may not like that. Around the World, America at the moment, Brian Shaw he has won four times and Eddie Shore from Great Britain has won it for the first time. The America’s and European’s are dominant in the sport”.
Tekau katoa ngā tono i tukuna ki ngā toki o te wā me te aha, ko te whakaihuwaka no te rohe o Ahiterehia, ara te toa tuatoru karapīpiti o te motu a Colm Woulfe e whakapaetia ana kua whakaae atu ki te tono.
Ko te māori rā e noho kainga rua ana ki Ahitereria a Rongo Keene anō tētahi ka uru. Ko te manako a te kaiako rangatira, kia tipu matomato te tākaro nei ki roto i te hunga pīkoko, tāne mai, wahine mai anō hoki
“Strongwomen and Strongman has been around in NZ for 20years. I guess it just hasn’t been promoted as strong as we’d like. But with Social Media and Facebook in the last two or three years it is getting out there”.
ko ngā toa e rua ka toa ki te whakataetae nei kua uru ki te whakataetae Tuakoi Tonga matua hei te pito o te tau.