Nā Hora Kairangi Nicholas tēnei atikara
A college dream is taking young Māori athlete Ihaka Cate from Aotearoa to the United States, where a full scholarship is opening the door to world class education, elite competition and a chance to share his culture on the global stage.
The talented basketball player (Ngāti Porou) is preparing to leave for Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts after earning a full scholarship for one year. The move is the next step towards his ambition of playing at the highest level while pursuing engineering or architecture at an Ivy League university.
Cate's path has been anything but conventional. He only began playing basketball around five years ago, which has already taken him to national representative opportunities, the Canterbury Rams environment and now the United States.
He gives credit to resilience and hard work rather than talent alone for helping him reach this point.
"One thing that has really led to my development and my success, especially over the past few years, is learning to grow through failure” says Cate. "A lot of people see failure as this horrible thing, but it's the thing that allows you to develop. It's something that allows you to grow."
Cate hopes his story encourages other rangatahi to see setbacks as opportunities rather than obstacles.
"If you strive through adversity and you really strive for the goals that you desire, you're going to go even further than you ever think you would."
While basketball is his passion, Cate says it has also become the vehicle for him.
"Basketball has been the ultimate pathway for me to go and pursue those goals,” said Cate.
The scholarship will allow him to further both his sporting and academic aspirations before he works towards earning a place at an Ivy League university and he says he is determined to get there.
"Wherever I go, home is always with me." Despite preparing to move halfway around the world, Cate said his connection to home will remain constant.
"I want to show the world what being rangatahi Māori and coming to play sport is all about."
He plans to share te ao Māori with teammates in the United States and says he has already begun introducing some of them to Māori culture during an earlier visit.
Cate says representing his whānau and whakapapa is just as important as his personal achievements, and hopes his journey will inspire other rangatahi Māori to pursue opportunities they may have thought were out of reach.
As a core player in the Canterbury Rams environment he says he has developed immensely in his sport alongside experienced players and coaches. The former Head Boy of Christ’s College also won the Waitaha Ngā Manu Kōrero competition last year for Korimako (Senior English), and went on to represent the region at Nationals.
Knowing he will not be entirely alone, Cate is looking forward to reconnecting with other Kiwi players already based in the United States. He says having familiar faces nearby will help him settle into life overseas while remaining grounded in his culture, friendships and his support network back home.
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Nā tētahi karahipi ki Amerika ka puare mai he ao hōu i te kaipara Māori a Ihaka Cate, e whai wāhi ai ia ki te mātauranga, ki te whakataetae poitūkohu taumata teitei, me te kawe i tōna ahurea ki te ao whānui.
Nō Ngāti Porou a Cate. Kua whakawhiwhia ia i tētahi karahipi mō te kotahi tau ki Northfield Mount Hermon School i Massachusetts. He hīkoi nui tēnei ki te whakatutuki i tana wawata ki te tākaro poitūkohu ki te taumata teitei rawa, me te whai tohu i te mātai pūhanga, i te hoahoa whare rānei ki tētahi whare wānanga Ivy League.
Ehara tana ara i te ara i te mahi māmā. E whā, e rima tau noa iho ia e tākaro ana i te poitūkohu, engari kua puare kē mai ngā whai wāhitanga ki ngā tīma māngai o Aotearoa, ki te taiao o te kapa Canterbury Rams, ā, ināianei ki Amerika.
Hei tā Cate, ehara i te mea ko te pūmanawa te take i eke ai ia ki tēnei taumata, engari nā te manawanui me te whakapau kaha.
"One thing that has really, really led to my development and my success, especially over the past few years, is learning to really grow through failure" I kī ia. "A lot of people see failure as this horrible thing, but it's the thing that allows you to develop. It's something that allows you to grow."
Ko tana tūmanako mā tana haerenga e whakatenatena ai i te rangatahi kia kite i ngā uauatanga hei ara ako, kaua hei ara aukati.
"If you strive through adversity and you really strive for the goals that you desire, you're going to go even further than you ever think you would."
Ahakoa e ngākaunui ana ia i te kēmu poitūkohu, hei tāna, koirā hoki te huarahi i puare ai ngā tatau ki tōna anamata.
"Basketball has been the ultimate pathway for me to really go and pursue those goals."
Mā tēnei karahipi ka whai wāhi ia ki te whakakaha tonu i āna whāinga hākinakina me āna whāinga mātauranga, i a ia e whai ana kia uru atu ki tētahi whare wānanga o te rōpū Ivy League.
Hei tāna, "Wherever I go, home is always with me".
Ahakoa ka noho ia ki tētahi atu pito o te ao, e kī ana a Cate ka mau tonu tōna here ki te kāinga.
I tana haerenga tuatahi ki Amerika, i tīmata kē ia ki te whakamōhio atu ki ōna hoa tīma i reire ki ētahi āhuatanga o te ao Māori, ā, e hiahia ana ia ki te whakapakari tonu i aua hononga.
"I want to show the world what being Māori and coming to play sport is all about.”
Hei tā Cate, he mea nui tonu te kawe i tōna whakapapa me tōna whānau i roto i āna mahi katoa. E tūmanako ana ia mā tana haerenga e whakahihiko ai i ētahi atu rangatahi Māori kia whai i ngā ara i whakaarohia e rātou kāore e taea.
Hei kaitākaro matua i te taiao o te Canterbury Rams e mea ana, nā ngā kaitākaro mātanga me ngā kaiako o reira ia i āwhina kia whanake tonu. I tū hoki ia hei Head Boy mō Christ’s College, ā, i toa i te wāhanga Korimako (Senior English) o Ngā Manu Kōrero ki Waitaha i tērā tau, kātahi ka māngai i te rohe ki te whakataetae ā-motu.
Ka tau hoki tōna ngākau i te mōhio he tokomaha ngā hoa nō Aotearoa kua noho kē ki Amerika. Hei tāna, mā aua hononga e māmā ake ai tana urutau ki te ao hou, me te pupuri tonu i tōna ahurea, i ngā whakahoatanga me te tautoko o te kāinga.