International competition between Native Hawaiian and Māori soccer players wrapped in Hilo last week with the signing of an agreement – securing future competition between the two groups.
The two organizations will work together to get better recognition of soccer, or football, not only in their respective homelands but also by global administrators.
Pukalani native Kayden Medeiros debuted with the Nā ʻĀlapa Hawaiian national football team with a goal – his first on the international stage. He watched the team play in Aotearoa last summer and was excited to join the team in welcoming the Māori football team to Hilo.
“We learned that they have also been fighting with their government to try and make a football team, a national team,” said Medeiros. “And I think it’s really going to help us down the line to try to get other nations to notice us and hopefully it keeps on building up and flourishing.”
The Hawaiian Football Federation, which runs the Nā ʻĀlapa national teams, is a newcomer to this space where cultural identity is integrated with sport. Māori Football Aotearoa has been building its player pool since 2008.
Te Waiariki Read, captain of the Māori women’s national team, said being a part of this movement has built her confidence in being Māori on the pitch.
“To be able to lead the haka as well as the waiata (song) it's something that I donʻt really do back home. I leave it to the bit more experienced ones besides me,” said Read. “But coming in here learning from my whānau (extended family) that lead that and providing that for our girls has been super grateful for me honestly, to just be able to share that with everyone else.”
Leaders from both federations signed a document they called a "treaty" — each recognizing the other as the authority for football in their respective nations. Kekoa Harman, vice president of Hui Kanaka Pōwāwae, the Hawaiian Football Federation, said the document makes it official.
“‘O ka mea nui ‘o ia ka ‘ike ‘ana ma ke kūhelu. A ʻike ʻia he ala kēia no kākou a pau ka poʻe o ka Pākīpika no ke komo pū hoʻokūkū, a hōʻike i kō mākou ʻano ʻŌiwi ma kēia ao ʻo ka pōwāwae,” said Harman.
The agreement helps create a pathway for other Pacific Islander nations to join in, compete, and express their indigeneity through football. Players took turns reading the treaty out loud.
“That part actually really made me cry,” said Lawna Kani, the secretary of Māori Football Aotearoa. ”Because now it felt like our rangatahi (youth), our future was stepping up and owning this and we were just signing off on that platform to give them the 'go, go forth and fly'”.
Māori Football signed a similar treaty last year with the Australian Indigenous Football Council, guaranteeing future competition among the Indigenous people of Australia and Aotearoa.
For Vernon Kapua’ala, president and co-founder of Hui Kanaka Pōwāwae, the treaty is just the start. He hopes this agreement gets the attention of the Oceania Football Confederation or OFC.
“The treaty indirectly just guarantees competition,” said Kapuaʻala. “But there’s going to be more agreements and treaties with more countries and national teams and continental organizations like OFC, like the Pacific Games Council, like FIFA, and individual agreements with international teams directly."
As for Read, she said the years ahead are going to be a lot more competitive.
“Especially if we go out there today and hopefully take the win and the series,” said Read. “But if not, we’ll be back for more. Definitely!”
