Arizona's pregame haka coming to an end

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) Arizona's football players will no longer perform a pregame haka dance after a New Zealand expatriate in California started a petition to

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) Arizona's football players will no longer perform a pregame haka dance after a New Zealand expatriate in California started a petition to stop it.

The haka, a Maori ancestral war dance from New Zealand, became popularized at sporting events by New Zealand's national rugby team, the All Blacks.

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Arizona has been performing the dance before football games since 2009, when a group of Polynesian players introduced it to share an aspect of their culture and fire up the team.

Christina Campbell started a petition to stop Arizona's haka after a video of the Wildcats doing a haka before a game went viral in New Zealand.

Arizona said it will seek alternative ways for Polynesian athletes to share their heritage. BYU and Hawaii also perform a pregame haka.