Can you tell us about where you’re from or live in Northland, and how your sporting journey began?

My gymnastics journey started a long time ago, I have been a gymnast for as long as I can remember. My parents put me in play gym as I was always climbing on everything and had endless energy. From then on I fell in love with everything about the sport. I have always loved the challenges and fear involved and the feeling of throwing myself around and flipping in the air is such an amazing feeling you only get when doing gymnastics. When I was 6, I was selected to join the competitive squad of a small gym called Fantastic Gymnastics at the Parua Bay community centre. I competed with them for 11 years as an artistic gymnast and power tumbler, moving up levels and gaining many titles such as Northland champion and CSG champion (A huge nationwide competition in Christchurch) on multiple occasions. Last year, we merged with WAGS (Whangarei Academy of Gymnastics), where I competed as a STEP 10, the first gymnast in Northland to ever make it to that level. I also competed in tumbling as a junior international. 

I have been lucky enough to represent Northland for the last 8 years, earning many national medals and proficiency awards, and in the last couple of years I have had the amazing opportunity to represent New Zealand on the international stage. Earlier this year I got to compete at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) with over 4000 competitors from 12 different countries, working with many gymnastics legends like Hezly Rivera and Valarie Liukin, where I was fortunate enough to come home with 3 medals, I have also been selected to represent NZ at the Australian Gymnastics Championships for the past two years.

What does it mean to you to represent Northland in your sport?

I love being able to represent Northland in my sport. It makes me so proud to represent such an amazing community, that is always there for me at every competition and helping me with every setback, keeping me motivated and pushing me to improve. Representing Northland and doing well at nationals is something I always strive towards as Northland is considered an ‘underdog’ in gymnastics, we aren't as big and don't have the same facilities as a lot of the bigger regions like Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, so going and proving ourselves time and time again, being able to come away with medals and good results is really an amazing feeling and something that is so important for the rest of our gymnastics community especially the younger gymnasts that look up to us and aspire to be like us when they grow up.

How did you feel when you found out you were selected for the Kauri Club scholarship, and what did the Kauri Club scholarship enable you to be able to do that you couldn't have done otherwise?

I was really excited to find out that I was selected for the Kauri Club scholarship. This scholarship has enabled me to take up some amazing opportunities that have greatly improved my athletic performance. Through this scholarship, I have been lucky enough to work with Dane Baker, a performance dietitian who works with many of New Zealand's elite athletes and teams like the All Blacks. I have also been able to work with Patrick Peng, a high-performance sport-specific physiotherapist, to keep my body in tip-top condition. These resources have been so valuable and helped me not only as an athlete but also as a coach and person. This scholarship has also been put towards training equipment such as grips and wrist supports, and development camps.

What would you say to younger athletes in Northland who dream of following in your footsteps?

I would tell any younger athlete who has big dreams to always push for them and turn them into goals because they can be achieved. The journey of being an athlete is never going to be easy and there are going to be many days where things are really hard and you want to give up, but those are the days that are going to make you better, every set back and every challenge only helps you grow and makes it more rewarding when you finally do achieve your goals.

Another thing I would tell young athletes is that sport is all about developing and learning along the way. You have to make mistakes and fail over and over again before you get it right!. One wrong game or performance does not define who you are, especially as an athlete. All the best athletes in the world still make mistakes and definitely aren't perfect and they are still able to do these amazing things and it doesn't make us think any differently.

Article added: Wednesday 29 October 2025