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'The King of Porirua' - TJ Perenara inspiring youth of his hometown with morning sports academy

February 28, 2020

The Hurricanes may be coming off a bye week, but don't for a second think that means a week off for TJ Perenara, who goes beyond the call of duty in his time off to inspire the youth of his hometown, Porirua.

It's not even 6am, but for the kids at Porirua's Mana College and Perenara, it's just another early start.

“I wish there was something like this for me when I was your guys' age,” Perenara tells the children.

"Kids come in, do some training, do some bookwork, have a feed and then get taken to school."

The Impact Sports Academy, set up by a few of Perenara’s former school mates is more than just a pre-school sports programme.

"It's person first, so creating good people, creating good habits for people that they can use in life and using sport as a vehicle to help drive those messages."

Those messages carry some extra mana coming from an All Blacks star.

“It actually gives reality to it, and having someone with his stature come on board to be able help us with this message is going to work wonders in a lot of ways,” coach Parekura Lalaga said.

"I remember Tamati Ellison coming into school when I was a young kid here. And he just spoke about his pathway, and I was like ‘man, I can do that,’” Perenara said.

He did just that, becoming a mainstay in both the Hurricanes and All Blacks, but being a role model on the field was not enough.

For the kids, it’s a privilege to have an All Black amongst them.

“Is it cool to have to have the King of Porirua around here? Yeah,” a laughing student told 1 NEWS.

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