Ngati Porou SLSC

Club Overview

Ngati Porou is New Zealands newest club established in 2014. The Club will provide service the top part of the East Coast. The background of Ngati Porou Surf Life Saving begins with the revival of waka ama in New Zealand in the 1980's and a subsequent 160km waka ama paddle from Onepoto (Hicks Bay) to Gisborne in 1999 with a group of Hicks Bay/Te Araroa locals. That historic journey was instrumental for a number of reasons, firstly that it was a journey of rediscovery for many of the participants, that retraced the ancestral water highways of the tupuna (ancestors). But it was also during that historic trip that the seed was planted to start a Surf Life Saving Club based in Onepoto (Hicks Bay) in order to provide safer beaches and water safety education to rural communities along the East Coast/ Tairawhiti.
2015 Gisborne Awards of Excellence - Innovation of the Year (community based surf lifesaving practices, including roving patrol)
2015 & 2019 SLSNZ London Trophy for the Club with the highest number of Surf Lifeguard Awards gained as a ratio of membership.
2016 Gisborne Awards of Excellence - Patrol Club of the Year