Article from Nelson Mail about Nelson Suburbs' Solomons u-20 international Atkin Kaua signing for Canterbury United:
Has been a boarder at Nelson College for a few years and won the NZ secondary schools championship with Nelson College this year.
Quite an old schoolboy at 19 years!
I went to Nelson College in the late '70's - early '80's.
There was one Pacific Islander in the whole school (Ivan Tamatea, who I knew) and few Maoris either.
Throughout my time at Nelson College (had about 1000 students there) I had not one Pacific Islander or Maori in my class.
Ivan Tamatea, the sole Pacific Islander, a lovely happy-go-lucky bloke whose sense of humour I still remember, was found dead on the edge of the school grounds one day , having inhaled fumes from a fire extinguisher (apparently you can get high that way).
He'd been like a fish out of water amidst the school's stern discipline and antiquated English public school vibe (we had to sing the "Eton Rugby Song" etc. and the headmaster would spend much of his time patrolling the corridors inspecting boys' uniforms)
Hence, after much soul searching the school decide to offer scholarships to students from the Pacific Islands.
Many rugby players, but also talented footballers (mostly from the Solomon Islands) like Henry Fa'arodo and Atkin Kaua.