From winter to 118 degrees, New Zealand basketball team Aotearoa Maori enjoying NABI
Two under-19 basketball teams from New Zealand — a boys and a girls team — made the 12-hour flight last weekend to Phoenix, leaving their winter jackets behind to face the Phoenix furnace of 115-plus degrees.
It's a shock leaving a country with about 6 million people to the Phoenix area, where there are almost that many people. Not just the culture, but the weather.
But nobody's complaining when they've got an opportunity to showcase themselves in the Native American Basketball Invitational this week, after COVID-19 put New Zealand on lockdown for three years.
This is the first time a team from New Zealand has been allowed to leave and play in the NABI since 2019, before COVID struck in 2020.
"It's a big culture shock," said forward Randall Paenga, who helped lead Aotearoa Maori to a 2-0 start on the first day of the NABI on Tuesday at Phoenix Central High School. "But we're here to play basketball. It's great to be here."
With COVID delaying life as they knew it in New Zealand from 2020 through much of 2022, kids had to find alternative outlets. They would still play basketball, but they couldn't compete in games. And NABI was out of the picture.
"It's a goal for a lot of New Zealanders to come over here and play basketball," guard Taylor Harris said. "With COVID, it affected us, especially our junior year, when we missed out on the recruiting and everything. So it's real good to finally have this opportunity now.
"I'm glad that the borders are opening and we get to experience America."
The Aotearoa Maori teams comprise of players from about six tribes. Maori came from settlers back in the 1320s, coming over from Polynesia by canoes to New Zealand, developing their own culture coming from the eastern Polynesian culture. For 10 years, teams representing Aotearoa Maori were invited to be part of the NABI by co-founder GinaMarie Scarpa.
"They train half a year almost for one tournament," said Nardi Leonard, who manages the New Zealand basketball program that gets teams to NABI. "For Maori, this one (NABI), you just have to be willing. They have to love basketball and embrace our culture. These are great kids."
Coach Kingi Te Maari said NABI is more than having kids play basketball against other teams in Phoenix for a week.
"It's about culture," he said. "It's about exchanging. It's about being able to find comparisons. It's something we look forward to."
Leonard said this is big because of the three-year gap that kept a team from coming to Arizona for NABI.
"Because we're such a small country, the rest of the world just gone on with it, while we tended to stay focused on (COVID)," she said. "We closed our whole country down. No one in, no one out. The whole country, it was kind of like house arrest for six weeks. It was stay at home. Sports was non-existent. We're a sports-crazy country. We're a very outdoors country. It was a bit tough.
"Sport also has been a good vehicle to get us to move on from COVID. Coming here back to the NABI has been a treat."
The basketball style played in NABI is much different than what is played at Maori. The Maori players are a little bigger and more physical than most teams at NABI. But they have to get used to a faster tempo, getting up and down the court.
"It's faster," Leonard said of the game's pace at NABI.
Everybody wears the same uniform that has NABI on the front. The names of the teams are on the back of the jerseys. There are black and blue uniforms.
Paenga is happy to represent Maori. He wants to stand out on the court through Sunday, when the championship game will be held at Footprint Center. He's hoping he'll be able to help lead Maori there.
But this trip is more than that. It's about embracing his culture and seeing the other Native American cultures from across the United States, including Alaska.
"Back home, our culture means so much to us," Paenga said. "Being a part of Maori, it means a lot from where I come from. And it means to where they come from, as well. I just want to be like a sponge, and learn about the cultures."
More on NABI: GinaMarie Scarpa's NABI passion started 20 years ago out of her garage
Family is huge among Maori, Paenga said.
"My family are our neighbors and whole tribe," he said. "They have a meeting house. When things get tough in New Zealand, or if there's an event, you go to wharenui. You celebrate it with them."
Rugby is big in New Zealand, but basketball is big with the Maori people.
"They love the sport," Paenga said. "The interest is growing."
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Zealand basketball team Aotearoa Maori enjoying NABI, Phoenix
