Maori Football New Zealand manager Philip Pickering-Parker made the presentation at the squad’s base at the Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Resort, just out of Johannesburg.
“I was asked to give a presentation to Ricki and the team from the Maori people of New Zealand to show their support and goodwill for what is happening at the moment,” says Pickering-Parker, a former New Zealand captain at age-group level.
He had been carrying the piece of pounamu with him for the past two weeks until he found the opportunity to present it to the squad, who are preparing for their next FIFA World Cup clash against Paraguay at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Thursday (2am Friday NZT).
Fallon, a proud member of the Ngati Porou iwi on the East Coast, thanked Pickering-Parker for the mihi and gave his support to Maori Football NZ.
“We really appreciate you coming down here and bringing Maori football to the mainstream,” Fallon said.
“Hopefully we can get more underprivileged kids into the game. We want to prove to all New Zealand kids, whatever culture they are, that they don’t have to go the way of gangs and violence.”
Fallon believes sport is a great tool for keeping young people on the straight and narrow.
“I think with any sport, it doesn’t matter if it’s football or rugby, there’s a lot of discipline involved. If you let yourself or your team down it hurts you,” he says.
“These kids get into gangs because they don’t have family and they feel the gang is their family. But if you come into a team, that becomes your family.”
Fallon is joined in the All Whites squad by three other players with Maori roots – defender Winston Reid and midfielders Leo Bertos and Jeremy Christie – while Herbert is looking into his Ngati Whatua ancestry.
“We’re trying to be role models for the kids and it’s brilliant that four Maori lads are coming up through the team and doing well,” Fallon says.
Maori Football NZ was formed in 2008 to increase the popularity of football within Maori and Polynesian communities.
“Our objective is to bring more players into the game,” Pickering-Parker says.
“We see football as a pathway for children to develop themselves and have better lives.”
The organisation is working closely with Counties-Manukau Sport in the south Auckland region to promote football to young Maori in a bid to stop the drop-out rate from the game and the drain to rugby and rugby league.
For more information about Maori football visit www.maorifootball.co.nz
For more on New Zealand Football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz