River City Waka Ama

18/08/2026

📢Building Great Coaches and High Performing Teams 💪

River City Waka Ama Coaches Workshop

Kia ora koutou,

As we head into a busy sprint season, we're running a free workshop for our coaches and any members interested in coaching as part of Our Ngā Akoranga Waka Ama pathways for developing our paddlers, our coaches, and our club.

Our coaches and our crews already do incredible things. This workshop is about giving you more knowledge and tools to champion your paddlers, grow as a coach, and help your team reach whatever its own full potential looks like.

Because not every team is chasing the same thing, and that's exactly as it should be. Some paddlers just want to have fun on the water. Some want to give it a good crack without too much commitment. Some want to be competitive and give it 100. This workshop is for all of it. Take what's useful for your team, taper it down and focus on building a connected, fun crew, or take the whole framework and build something built to perform under pressure. It's yours to shape.

What we'll cover:
👉Trust and culture (The foundation)
👉Fitness and technique — building the physical and technical foundation
👉Plan to succeed — programming your season and planning your race
👉Test and ex*****on — pressure-testing your team, and what race day actually asks of you
👉The responsibilities and rewards of being a coach

You'll walk away with practical tools, examples, and a few hands-on activities to apply straight to your own team.

Come along, bring your questions, and leave with something real to take back to your crew.

Details:
📅 Date: Saturday 29 August 2026
🕐 Time: 10am - 1pm
📍 Location: Community House
Bring a plate for lunch!

Open to any River City Waka Ama members coaching this season, and anyone keen to understand what coaching involves.

He waka eke noa 🤙

See you there 🫡

17/08/2026

📣Good luck team!!!! 👏🙌💪

Watch it live: https://youtube.com/?si=xse9TZ5i7IGf7EGp

BEST OF LUCK TO OUR LOCAL KAIHOE!

A huge mihi and best of luck to our local kaihoe Murray Carey, Jan Dixon and Sheryl Brightwell, who are heading to Singapore to compete at the IVF Va'a World Sprint Championships.

They’ll be representing Aotearoa on the world stage, and we’ll be cheering them on from home!

THURSDAY 20 AUGUST

Sheryl Brightwell | Team Aotearoa NZ Elite Para
V6 500m Straight Final
12:00pm NZ Time | Lane 5

Jan Dixon
Master 60 Women V1 500m | Heat 2/5
12:36pm NZ Time | Lane 3

Sheryl Brightwell | Team Aotearoa NZ Elite Para
V6 1000m Straight Final
6:11pm NZ Time | Lane 5

FRIDAY 21 AUGUST

Murray Carey
Master 75 Men V1 500m | Heat 1/3
12:38pm NZ Time | Lane 4

Sheryl Brightwell
Para Women’s V1 500m
Race details are still to be confirmed following classification.

WATCH LIVE

Racing is expected to be streamed via the IVF YouTube channel and partner streaming platforms. Livestream details are still TBC.

https://www.youtube.com//streams

Kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawanui! All the best Murray, Jan and Sheryl. Awa FM and Whanganui are right behind you!

16/08/2026

Neat to see teams out on the awa today.

Our Papas, our ladies and our boys all out there in the wet and cold. 💪

Nothing grows strong in comfort. Plants pushed by the wind grow stronger.. same with our paddlers. Every hard session, every tough set builds what comfort never could.

Ka rawe, whānau! Keep learning, keep pushing 🫡💪

14/08/2026

Ngā mihi nui Cullinane College

It is genuinely our pleasure to be able to share this beautiful sport with your rangatahi, and to support their NCEA accreditation through this programme. Waka ama is something we cherish deeply, and being able to share this with your students is exactly why we do what we do.

We're really looking forward to the next five weeks as they build their skills, grow in confidence, and hopefully fall in love with being on the Awa the way we have.

Ka rawe to you all! Can't wait to see you soon 🤙

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Cx3EHodRo/

06/08/2026

📣Appreciation post!

🎂 Happy Birthday to one of our amazing River City whānau!

Today we surprised one of our wonderful Mums /Manager /2ic Coach / transporter and paddler 🙏 with a cake and a big happy birthday before the boys got on the water. And it got us thinking about how grateful we are as a club to have wonderful whanau around us.

To our supporters, our friends, and our whānau who continue to āwhi our teams and our paddlers your mahi doesn't go unnoticed. Whether you're on the water, on the bank, or behind the scenes, you make River City Waka Ama what it is.

We appreciate you all, and we love having you on this journey with us. 🚣‍♀️💛

He waka eke Noa.

Ngā mihi nui.

02/08/2026

Hoe Tonga Race 3! 🌊

Our Papa's long distance debut!

What a beautiful morning – Porirua was ON! Great call by the organisers to postpone to Sunday, and we're so grateful to have gotten out onto the moana.

We are SO proud of our teams:

🏆 J16 Men - Tino tama o te awa - Overall winners, 10km!
🥉 Our Papas crew - Whakapapas - 3rd place overall! Amazing effort for your first long distance race out to sea!

We are so proud of you all.

And to our WONDERFUL Parents and Supporters who give their time and resources so we can travel and take part in these races Aroha nui! We couldn't do this without you. 🙏

He waka eke noa!

27/07/2026

Whanganui! We have three legends to celebrate! 🇳🇿

Congratulations to Murray Carey, Jan Dixon, and Sheryl Brightwell – all selected for the W1 (Individual events) in the 2026 Aotearoa Team, heading to the IVF Va'a World Sprint Championships in Singapore (17–30 August 2026)! 🇳🇿

To have three Whanganui paddlers putting on the black singlet for New Zealand is huge, and it's a reflection of the strength of our waka and paddling community right here at home. We are so incredibly proud of you all!

📻 Catch them Tuesday 28 July, 9:00am on E Oho Me Rongo with Awa FM's Rongomaitawhiri Ah-Ching.

🎧 Listen live here: https://wharekōrero.nz/r.293

📘 Check out their page: https://www.facebook.com/share/19F58WN5fV/

Go well Murray, Jan and Sheryl – Whanganui is behind you all the way, Singapore-bound! 💪💪💪