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Former NZ Representative Athlete

"For 7 years I was OBSESSED with one thing..."

People go through different phases in their journeys and my teenage years hit a turning point at about 14. I decided to throw myself at a gargantuan challenge that scared me and changed my life forever.

It all started when I scrapped my way into the 2006 Wellington U18 representative B team for underwater hockey- I only made it in because another player who had been selected for the team ahead of me injured himself 2 weeks before the competition! I was the weakest, youngest and smallest in the team. To add to the mix, it was no secret I had been dropped from the official trials a few weeks ago and had been given a lucky break. I was playing catch up and the whole team knew it.

But I was pumped for the upcoming comp- we were off to the U18 rep nationals to face all the other regional representative sides from around the country!

2 weeks later, we were at the tournament and there was a buzz about the pool that I hadn't seen before. All anyone was talking about between their games was the NZ trial selection and which players were most likely going to be chosen by the NZ coaches at the end of the tournament. Throughout the event, our team put in 120% but despite our enthusiasm, we got smoked in almost every game. We came 6th out of 7 teams.

My body was battered and bruised but I knew I had a few years ahead of me to get my game up. At the end of the weekend, I walked away with no medal and definitely no call up for the NZ trials.

A week later, our coach sent out an email announcing that coaches of the NZ team decided to open the trials to anyone that was at tournament the week prior. I instantly knew that this could be the opportunity of a lifetime and allowed me a free pass to meet some of the NZ reps and learn a bunch of valuable skills. Someone told me once, the quickest way to learn to swim is to jump into the deep end of a pool filled with sharks.

At that point, I just wanted to learn. The worst that could happen was I get my ass handed to me. And I was used to that.
The best that could happen was I could represent my country in Trans-Tasmans the following year.
So why did that change the direction of my life?

I decided to go all in.

I didn't know it at the time but that decision was my ticket to explore the world and see how far I could push my own limits. It led me to becoming the youngest NZ underwater hockey rep the following year, the fastest school aged player in the country, captained my school team to win school's nationals, captain of a NZ Underwater Hockey team a couple of years later, winning 3 Trans-Tasman comps, 2 southern hemispheres and runner-up at Age-Group World Championships over in the Netherlands.
This enhanced my passion for keeping active and has been intertwined with other areas of my life such as coaching, running multiple large-scale junior sports events, joining the army and graduating with a Sport & Exercise Science Degree from the University of Auckland.

"For 7 years I was OBSESSED with one thing..."

People go through different phases in their journeys and my teenage years hit a turning point at about 14. I decided to throw myself at a gargantuan challenge that scared me and changed my life forever.

It all started when I scraped my way into the 2006 Wellington U18 representative B team for underwater hockey- I only made it in because another player who had been selected for the team ahead of me injured himself 2 weeks before the competition! I was the weakest, youngest and smallest in the team. To add to the mix, it was no secret I had been dropped from the official trials a few weeks ago and had been given a lucky break. I was playing catch up and the whole team knew it.

But I was pumped for the upcoming comp- we were off to the U18 rep nationals to face all the other regional representative sides from around the country!

2 weeks later, we were at the tournament and there was a buzz about the pool that I hadn't seen before. All anyone was talking about between their games was the NZ trial selection and which players were most likely going to be chosen by the NZ coaches at the end of the tournament. Throughout the event, our team put in 120% but despite our enthusiasm, we got smoked in almost every game. We came 6th out of 7 teams.

My body was battered and bruised but I knew I had a few years ahead of me to get my game up. At the end of the weekend, I walked away with no medal and definitely no call up for the NZ trials.

A week later, our coach sent out an email announcing that coaches of the NZ team decided to open the trials to anyone that was at tournament the week prior. I instantly knew that this could be the opportunity of a lifetime and allowed me a free pass to meet some of the NZ reps and learn a bunch of valuable skills. Someone told me once, the quickest way to learn to swim is to jump into the deep end of a pool filled with sharks.

At that point, I just wanted to learn. The worst that could happen was I get my ass handed to me. And I was used to that.
The best that could happen was I could represent my country in Trans-Tasmans the following year.
So why did that change the direction of my life?

I decided to go all in.

I didn't know it at the time but that decision was my ticket to explore the world and see how far I could push my own limits. It led me to becoming the youngest NZ underwater hockey rep the following year, the fastest school aged player in the country, captained my school team to win school's nationals, captain of a NZ Underwater Hockey team a couple of years later, winning 3 Trans-Tasman comps, 2 southern hemispheres and silver medalist at Age-Group World Championships over in the Netherlands.

This enhanced my passion for keeping active and has been intertwined with other areas of my life such as coaching, running multiple large-scale junior sports events, joining the army and graduating with a Sport & Exercise Science Degree from the University of Auckland.
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