Everyone at Wakefield School wants to hang out with Binti Kawala now that she’s hit the big time with arguably the country’s most popular breakfast.
The nine-year-old is one of four tamariki who crossed the line in a May 2024 promotion by Sanitarium to become the next Weet-Bix Kids on its 750g and 1.2kg boxes.
More than 100 applicants had to share their Weet-Bix TRYathlon experience, best training tips, favourite Weet-Bix breakfast, and an example of how they conquered a challenge or gave a situation their best try.
Binti put forward her case because she has great pleasure in giving anything a go, and the photo she entered with her application was her eating a meringue with chocolate sauce to capture a “true kid” look.
She was thrilled to be contacted in early June last year after a panel of five judges separated the wheat from the chaff, identifying the applicants they believed were inspiring to others.
Sanitarium says Binti’s “brave attitude” and willingness to wrangle events like interschool cross country as the youngest participant from Wakefield School was a clincher.
“She even stopped to help her friend who had tripped at the start of the race, showing care for those around her,” Sanitarium says.
“She was an example of what the Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRY is all about – just giving it a TRY and leading a healthy and active life.”
That healthy and active life includes playing hockey with Waimai United Hockey Club.
Binti says the Auckland photoshoot was “fun and scary” and she and her mother Jilly Perry extracted relationships with the three other North Island-based winners.
Sanitarium says the fresh-faced boxes began distributing nationwide in October, and Binti says it was “very cool” to pick up hers for the first time.
“I had a big smile on my face when I went to buy it, I was with my brothers, my cousin and my grandma, and both my brothers [Bodhi and Kyrie] were like ‘look, it’s you!’, she says.
Jilly says no one at Wakefield School believed Binti’s photo would be emblazoned on Weet-Bix boxes, so it was good to finally have the rumour served up.
Binti also won a year’s supply of Weet-Bix consisting of 18 1.2kg boxes.
She will take to the Sanitarium Weet-Bix TRYathlon start line for the third time this Sunday and will be a front runner in the warm-up before the big race.
Jilly says Binti’s stardom has enticed other Kiwi kids to the TRYathlon, including many of her cousins who will participate in this year’s events in different parts of Aotearoa “because of Binti”.
Binti says getting more people to the TRYathlon was “really good”.
“I enjoy the running part the most because usually at the running part, everyone’s smiling, and at the end, everyone gets a medal, that’s the best part,” she says.
More than 1500 tamariki aged under 16 will descend on Tāhunanui this Sunday for Nelson’s Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon.
Black Ferns great Chelsea Bremner will be attending and registrations for 6 to 15-year-olds remain open until race day unless sold out prior.
Visit www.tryathlon.co.nz to register.
