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Of all the things said about Muhammad Ali after his passing last week, my favourite were the thoughts of radio commentator Bomani Jones. Bomani said the thing that stood out to him about Ali was his refusal to back down. He was knocked down in the 4th round of his fight against Henry Cooper but…

I’m so glad we have a public holiday to celebrate the Queen’s birthday on June 7th. I wish we also had a holiday to celebrate Matariki which started today (June 6th) . According to the Maori Language Commission, “Each winter the stars of Matariki and Puanga signal the end of one year in Aotearoa, and the beginning of…

It’s Samoan Language Week and the theme for 2016 is, “E felelei manu ae ma’au i o latou ofaga  – Birds migrate to environments where they survive and thrive.” It’s been inspiring following the journey of Samoan Kiwi boxer Joseph Parker. His career reflects the theme of Samoan week. Before Joseph teamed up with trainer…

It’s Playoff time in the NBA and our own Kiwi Tongan basketballer Steven Adams has become one of the most talked about players in America. Steven is as well known for his Tom Selleck-style moustache and nifo koula (gold tooth) as he is for his tough and physical style of play and Kiwi sense of…

Last year, five Ōtāhuhu primary/intermediate schools, Reading Together (a Ministry of Education supported reading initiative), the Ōtāhuhu Community Library, the National Library and the New Zealand Book Council’s Writers in Schools programme joined forces to deliver the Ōtāhuhu Writers in Schools Project. Five low decile schools in Ōtāhuhu, South Auckland, hosted a diverse range of NZ writers in residence for six days over term three and…

When Miesha Tate defeated Holly Holm to become the women’s UFC Bantamweight World Champion last week, she demonstrated the kind of resiliency we need to teach young people. It was Miesha’s third attempt to win the title after being well beaten in previous tries by former champion Ronda Rousey. Miesha’s a great example of resiliency….

I took my year 11 Drama class to see a show in town last week. We were sitting in Q Theatre waiting for the show to start, looking at the students from other schools in the venue. One of my students asked, “Sir, are we the only Islanders in here?” Me: “They look like Islanders…

Sad news today that former Warriors league player Kevin Locke is battling depression. Kevin spoke about how losing his father and the pressures of his sport and negative comments on social media really affected him. “Reading what everyone was saying about me on the internet was tough,” he said. “People are careless.” Kevin admits that…

It’s All-Star weekend in the NBA, a time when the best players come together for events that celebrate the game of basketball.  This year’s celebrations are taking place in Toronto, Canada. One Toronto bank has gone out of its way to make the basketball players welcome. The Bank of Montreal installed a gigantic 10 foot…

Culture was on display in the just finished season of the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. It will also be on display in our classrooms this year. Carolina quarterback Cam Newton has been criticised for the way he celebrates touchdowns and other successful plays. One of his favourite things to do is a dance called the dab. Some commentators…

Watching the film Pay It Forward with family tonight got us thinking about what an awesome concept it’s based on. A teacher sets an interesting project for his students: “Think of an idea to change our world – and put it into ACTION!” One student’s idea is the basis of the Pay it Forward concept. He does 3…

Swedish design company IKEA runs a Soft Toys For Education campaign. They make soft toys and donate some of the profits to Unicef’s education projects. Last year IKEA invited children all over the world to enter a competition to draw their own designs for a soft toy. The company then chose 10 of the designs and made them…

It’s been interesting reading some of the headlines coming out of Australia and New Zealand in the lead up to the Rugby World Cup final this week. One of the funniest I saw was this one from Fox Sports in Australia. “The Richetty grub is the master of the dark arts of breakdown cheating,” said…

I love this photo of Argentina’s rugby coach comforting one of his players after today’s World Cup semi final loss to Australia. I love it because it shows me they really believed they could win. Very few people thought Argentina could win today – the betting odds were 2-1 against them. But because they believed they could…

The resilience of the young people we work with amazes, inspires and sometimes … embarrasses me. My upbringing was like this: I had parents who supported my education. I never saw anyone I loved die. We weren’t rich, but I had everything I needed financially. I had very few health problems. Did I do anything…

This is a great photo of rugby league player Johnathan Thurston enjoying Grand Final victory with his daughter last Sunday. Australian photographer Cameron Spencer said it was one of the most emotional photos he’s ever taken. “He could have been off with his mates running around with the cup, but instead he walked with his…

Former England rugby player Matt Dawson has caused controversy by promoting the “Hakarena”, a mock version of the haka. Matt urges English fans to perform the dance throughout the Rugby World Cup to “inspire” the English team. You can see the ‘Hakarena” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlHS_Mn7nWE This reminds me of the recent debate surrounding former All Black…

The first All Blacks vs England test took place in 1905 and New Zealand won 15-0. The referee of the match was Welshman, Gil Evans. After the game Gil gave the match whistle to another referee, Albert Freethy. Almost twenty years later, Albert was still using the whistle! He used it during the 1924 All Blacks Invincibles tour…

The Rugby World Cup begins this week and to celebrate I’ve just released two new books about rugby. Each day this week I’m sharing interesting information about rugby to help you “warm up” for the tournament. Day 3 The 1888 New Zealand Natives rugby team were the first sports team to wear a silver fern…

The Rugby World Cup begins this week and to celebrate I’ve just released two new books about rugby. Each day this week I’m sharing interesting information about rugby to help you “warm up” for the tournament. Day 2 Famous All Black traditions like the black uniform, the silver fern and the pre-match haka originated with…

The Rugby World Cup begins this week and to celebrate I’ve just released two new books about rugby. Each day this week I’ll share interesting information about rugby to help you “warm up” for the tournament. Day 1 Did you know that a New Zealander with the awesome name William Atack, was the first person…

Malo e lelei everyone and happy uike kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga (Tongan language week)! This week I thought I would write about my favourite current Tongan sportsperson. Not Steven Adams, though he’s pretty amazing. Not Manu Vatuvei, but much respect for Manu. My favourite Tongan sportsperson is Bill Fukofuka, a former Tangaroa College student…

A real highlight this week was watching my year 12 Drama class perform a children’s theatre show, Fatu and Clicks at the Vodafone Event Centre in Manukau. The play is based on a story from my book Samoan Heroes. Here are some images from the show. Excited children waiting for the show to begin at…

This week the NRL celebrates Indigenous Round, paying tribute to Australia’s Indigenous people. Rugby league is doing a lot to promote positive cultural relations in Australia. This year six indigenous Australians started in the Australian league team that played the Kiwis. That was a record for an Australian sports team. This is one aspect of…

It was inspiring attending the Schools Trash to Fashion show at Mangere Arts Centre last week. The creativity of the designers was amazing. Better still is the thought that materials thought of as ‘junk’ and valueless could be transformed and reused as wonderful pieces of art. There’s a future thought about how we sometimes regard…

I recently read an interesting book called Worn Stories by Emily Spivack. The idea of the book is that most of us own at least one piece of clothing that has an interesting story connected to it. That got me thinking about the stories/symbolism that are told in the design of many of today’s sporting…

Really excited to hear that award winning film maker Taika Waititi is working on a movie adaptation of Kiwi writer Barry Crump’s novel Wild Pork and Watercress. The film is called Hunt for the Wilderpeople and is about an uncle who takes his nephew to the Urewera forest so he won’t be fostered. I read…

Friday 12th June was a special day as we launched my new book Samoan Heroes at Tupu Youth Library in Otara. It was such an inspiring evening, especially to see so many young people there. One of the guests wrote, “Where else would you see contemporary dance, an interview with a local NRL player, soulful…

Here’s a great blog post idea for those of wonderful people who run school libraries. King’s College in Auckland have a librarian’s blog and in their latest one featured my books for young people. https://kingzone.wordpress.com/2015/06/09/great-new-series-of-sports-books-in-the-library/