Matariki Team 2023 - Waitī
Posted July 04, 2023
IHNZ News
Matariki
Within the Matariki star cluster, the Waitī star watches over our freshwater environments, our awa (rivers), roto (lakes), kūkūwai (wetlands), and waipuna (springs). As the waters flow, she sees how they support us, provide for us, connect us, and sustain us. Waitī has heard the important stories that our waters have to tell and encourages us to listen and learn from them as well.
Lewis Taiapa leads the Waitī team consisting of:
- William Jackson
- Jason McLean
- Ryan Friedlos
- Theo Taylor
- Wesley Taiapa
- Amber Metcalfe
- Montell Marjoribanks
Lewis Taiapa has a long career in Inline Hockey and has been one of our successful New Zealand Senior Men’s team captains for a number of years.
Lewis has a long career in Inline Hockey and has been one of our successful New Zealand Senior Men’s team captains for a number of years.
Lewis has also represented New Zealand in Floorball and represents the Wellington region in Ice Hockey.
As an original member of the Māori team in 2015 Lewis has a keen interest in ensuring this tradition continues.
More recently Lewis has been coaching a number of Junior teams for the Vipers and in 2023 was appointed to IHNZ Junior Mens Coaching staff.
Some of Lewis’s highlights include:
- Being the First NZ Club to play at NARCh in 2012 - making the Men’s Semifinal and winning the Men’s Skills Contest with “Best Moves.”
- Oceanias Gold from 2001- 2010 (or 2014?) as NZ Mens Captain 2009 onwards
- IIHF Silver Medal 2007, Captain Mens IIHF 2011-2017
- Penguins Prems Nationals Champs - 2008’, 10’, 12’, 14’, 15’, 16’, 17’, 18’, 19’, 22’
- Lower Inter Regionals
- Coach Vipers u10s team - First Club National Championship 2018 u10s
- Helped to set up the first NZ Māori team 2015, Exhibition game vs Invitational squad, then Exhibition game vs Team Hawaii 2017 and the New Zealand Māori Inline Hockey Team at Matariki 2023.
William Jackson has played both roller hockey (quad) and Inline Hockey from a young age.
William has also played Ice Hockey and currently enjoys playing Softball with his wider family members. He has represented Northern Region Inline Hockey and New Zealand at age group level. He currently plays for the Mt Wellington Panthers Premier Men’s Team.
William says he plays inline hockey because after all this time, it’s still fun! After a serious leg injury we look forward to seeing William back in action at Matariki 2023!
Jason McLean has been playing hockey for over 25 years. During this time he has won multiple National titles with a number of teams as well as been a member of multiple NZ teams.
Jason is part of the IHNZ coaching staff and in 2022 coached the first ever Matariki All Stars Exhibition team to a draw with the New Zealand Māori Inline Team. In 2023 Jason is back as the coach of the Centre Ice Team Mission Exhibition team.
Ryan Friedlos started to play hockey with Hattrick Hockey at ActivZone in 2013. Ryan joined the Vipers club in early 2014 and has played in the regional league with the Vipers ever since. Being from a smaller cub, he has helped out with both the Stingrays and Minors at various tournaments over the years.
Since then Ryan has been selected to play for Northern Region at the Inter-Regional tournaments each year since first trialling for the tournament held in Whanganui in 2016, and in 2019 travelled to Hawaii with the NZ 14u teams to play at the AAU tournament.
Theo Taylor has played for the New Plymouth Ravens for the past 8 years.
During 2023 Theo has also played for the KIHL Div. 1 Royals and Div. 2 Knights teams.
Theo represented New Zealand at NARCH 2023 Winternationals in Los Angeles in 2023 in the 18u grade and is looking forward to his second year at Matariki!
Montell Marjoribanks plays for the Mt Wellington Panthers in net and has been the teams backbone over the years as he has risen through the age grades. He has titles in every age grade at a National level and has earned the MVG jersey on numerous occasions.
Montell is in his first year with the Panthers Seniors and has represented both the Northern Region and New Zealand.
When not playing hockey Montell enjoys fishing with his grandfather, gaming and listening to music.
Montell is proudly representing his iwi - Ngati Whatua, Ngapuhi and Ngai Tahu.
Wesley Taiapa was the proud flag bearer for New Zealand in the Asia Pacific qualifier for the last IIHF World Cup event against Japan held in 2017 in New Plymouth.
Wesley plays for the Auckland Vipers and has been playing hockey for the past 7 years.
Wesley’s favourite memories are winning the Nationals Championships in both the 10u and 14u grades.
Wesley has also played inline at NARCh for the San Diego Rockets in Los Angeles in both 2015 and 2019.
Wesley has also played with his dad Lewis in a few games in the past year so is looking forward to being a part of the Waitī team in 2023!
Amber Metcalfe originally comes from the Levin and played for the Levin Thunder but now plays for the Hamilton Devils and is 18 years old.
She has played in Mexico, Abu Dhabi and Spain representing New Zealand in Inline and Ice Hockey.
Her future aspirations include wanting to play in the NZ premier league one day.
Amber is a keen photographer and is often seen rink side at tournaments providing us with many of the fantastic action shots we have!