Te Rauparaha Arena is a multi-purpose indoor sports and entertainment centre, with pools, dash swim school, a fitness centre and indoor sports stadium and venues, in

Porirua Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide swee ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The centre, which cost NZ$17.5 million to construct, was officially opened on 21 November 2008. The main stadium has a maximum capacity of 3,000, while a secondary stadium can hold another 500 people. The venue was named by the

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its ''rohe'' (tribal area) extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston N ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

after one of their most famous leaders,

Te Rauparaha Te Rauparaha (c.1768 – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe who took a leading part in the Musket Wars, receiving the nickname "the Napoleon of the South". He was influential in the original ...

History

The venue was built as a replacement for the Porirua Recreation Centre, which went into the administration of the Porirua City Council in 1998 after it was no longer able to be maintained. The council decided to replace it with a larger sports and entertainment centre in 2000. Following years of designing and community consultation, construction of the present venue began in January 2008, and celebrated its official opening on 21 November that year.

Events

Te Rauparaha Arena is an alternate home venue for the

Central Pulse Central Pulse are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Central in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Central is the governing body that r ...

in the

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

(now the Mojo Pulse). In 2009, it was the venue at which the Pulse recorded their first victory in the ANZ Championship, with a 53–52 victory over 2008 champions the

New South Wales Swifts New South Wales Swifts are an Australian netball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have represented Netball New South Wales in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team wa ...

. It hosted the

Māori Art Market Māori Art Market is biennial Toi Māori event features art exhibitions, art sales, live art demonstrations, such as wood carving and tattooing, as well as presentations and master classes. It features traditional and contemporary Māori art by Mā ...

in 2009 and 2011. Other events held at the Arena have included the Home, Living and Leisure Show, Dunkleys Great NZ Craft Show, Wedding Expo, Education in the Classroom conferences, Raggamuffin Roadtrip, and

Kolohe Kai Kolohe Kai is a Hawaiian reggae pop musical group formed in 2009 by singer-songwriter Roman De Peralta. Kolohe Kai consists of De Peralta, Jasmine Moikeha (vocals), Kolomona Ku (keyboard and saxophone), Luke Daddario (drummer), Imua Garza (guit ...

. Sporting fixtures at the Arena have included the Silver Ferns, NZ Breakers, Exodus Saints, NZ Tall Ferns, NZ Indoor Bowls Nationals, FIBA Oceania U19s Basketball Championship, FIBA Oceania Championships 2013 and the Oceania World Qualifying Volleyball Championships.

References

External links

Official website
Indoor arenas in New Zealand Netball venues in New Zealand Sports venues in Porirua 2000s architecture in New Zealand Volleyball venues in New Zealand {{NewZealand-stadium-stub