Throughout my time at Rangitoto College, my days have consisted of lots of academic work and hours of training every morning and night.  The support I have received from the Rangitoto staff has been one of the reasons why I am succeeding in my sport today and in my studies.  Playing water polo at a high level means that my week consists of up to 10 trainings a week, ranging from 2-6 hours a night.  This includes gym training, swim sessions, water polo skill training and often weekend camps for New Zealand level teams consisting of high-intensity training.  The support from the school has been amazing, whether it be catch-up sessions for specific subjects, extensions when needed or even the occasional dean meeting to check on my wellbeing and progress in my chosen sport.  Premier water polo at Rangitoto College has been a wonderful experience for my teammates and me.  We went from winning 3 silver medals in 2021 to making an immense improvement and winning a gold medal at the Premier National tournament in 2022!  This tournament was definitely a highlight of my school water polo career as it was the first gold medal Rangitoto had won in water polo for 10 years.  I was also honoured to be named MVP of the tournament which made this win even more thrilling.

I have been competing for North Harbour Water Polo for 8 years now and love every minute of it!  I am also part of the New Zealand womens’ squad and was lucky enough to be selected to attend the Youth World Water Polo Championships in Serbia in July 2022. I would say that being a part of these squads is my proudest achievement in my water polo career so far.  My goal for next year is to gain a scholarship at a university in the USA for water polo to continue my water polo career as well as further my academic studies. I have been talking to a few universities.  In the future, attending the Olympics would be the pinnacle of my water polo career but without the support and care of the Rangitoto college staff and teammates, none of this would be possible.