Kia ora, my name is Leata, and I completed the Sport NZ Ihi Aotearoa Graduate Programme at the end of 2023.

I was born and raised in Whanganui for majority of my childhood and early teenage years. I moved to Wellington in 2018 to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Education and Development Studies. In 2021 I decided to further my studies in Post Graduate Health.

Sport and Active recreation have always played a big part in my life. Growing up a lot of my whanau events and reunions were based around big sports tournaments. By the time I was at secondary school competitive sport was what I lived for. Looking back, I could not imagine having a childhood with no sport or active reaction at the forefront.

I was initially attracted to the graduate programme because of the vast agency of opportunities it presented through leadership, personal development, and project work. Listening to the previous graduates talk about their experiences with so much enthusiasm and passion, sealed the deal and I applied for the programme.

I have enjoyed being exposed to the different elements of Sport NZ and the experiences I have been fortunate enough to have had in my first year. In my second year of the graduate programme I was did two placements, on at Basketball New Zealand in their High-Performance team and the other at ACC in the

Sport Injury Prevention team. I have stayed on at ACC and am now working in the Primary Prevention team and loving it!

I would highly recommend applying for the graduate programme regardless of what you have studied. If you are wanting to gain valuable skills and opportunities that ultimately help enhance New Zealanders health and wellbeing, this is the programme for you.