OLIVIA MCBRIDE (15)
Otago Girls’ High School
Sport: Swimming.
Highlight: Attended national age-group first division competition this year, making two finals and gaining fifth and 10th placings in the 15-year age-group at an exciting event filled with a huge range of talented swimmers.
Training: Up to five to six times per week, before and after school.
Dream: To continue to swim at a national level and compete in the New Zealand short-course event later this year, hoping to do well and continue to reach personal bests.
Motivation: Olivia enjoys her sport, enjoys training and having fun. She also participates in team sports. Olivia is the year 11 sporting champion at Otago Girls’.
SKY SANDERS (16)
Dunstan High School
Sports: Rodeo — New Zealand rookie barrel racing champion and third in rookie all round 2024, New Zealand representative in Australia and United States, New Zealand secondary schools representative; rugby — Otago Country (best and fairest player 2023), Otago Māori.
Highlights: Winning the New Zealand rookie barrel racing title in my first season in the adult competition on a horse I started and trained myself. It is a milestone achievement, and winning the national rookie barrel racing title at the same time is pretty epic. Being the first Kiwi to fly the New Zealand flag at the National Barrel Horse Association youth and teen world championships in the US. Selected to represent New Zealand at the world finals in barrel racing, pole bending and breakaway at the schools world finals in Wyoming next month will soon be a highlight, as we are the first team in the history of the event to compete and represent New Zealand.
Training: I ride almost every day during the spring and summer months. I have multiple horses I need to keep fit during the summer with a couple of training runs or jackpots a month, but the majority of time is spent hacking out, arena flat work, schooling, building muscle memory and fitness for both horse and myself, as I can only perform as well as my horses are feeling. Over the winter I work on my young horses, building relationships and doing lots of groundwork before starting them under saddle. I ride my faithful horse, Cougar, with whom I won the junior national title in 2019, to keep my core fitness up. I normally play rugby and netball, but with my two overseas representative trips this year and being in year 12, I have cut down to just rugby to not overload the physical toll on the body and ensure I am making time for my school studies. I train twice a week for rugby and play on to two games for Dunstan High School and occasionally the Central Otago women's team. When I return, I will be trialling for the OC and Otago Māori squads again.
Dream: To compete in a national and international final and possibly have my own sport horse stud one day.
Motivation: To be better than I was the day before, and doing it because I love and enjoy it.
ELLA WOODWARD (17)
Kaikorai Valley College
Sport: Table tennis.
Highlight: Representing Otago at the 2023 national championships and winning the team event for under-19 girls.
Training: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday; two to three hours a day training, and coaching juniors.
Dream: To keep playing and enjoying the game. To gain an individual placing at South Island championships.
Motivation: Enjoying playing as well as coaching, and trying to encourage more girls into the sport.
BLAKE BUCHAN (16)
Roxburgh Area School
Sport: Basketball.
Highlight: Competing at a representative level for Central Lakes basketball and playing at two tournaments. I played against some very talented people and being able to compete at that level was reassuring for myself. Since then I have improved on my basketball skills a lot and this has really shown through in my recent games. Playing as a representative has also meant that I can pass my knowledge on to my team-mates as a captain and coach. It is good being able to give back to my school in this way. Playing representative basketball has been super fun and I have got a lot out of it in the way of skills and knowledge that I can use to improve both myself and my team-mates.
Training: During my representative season, I had organised training sessions on Sundays, Wednesdays and school lunchtimes, as well as plenty of practice sessions in my own time. I have had basketball games on Mondays and Fridays. Each week on Sunday I would travel up to Queenstown for my representative team’s training sessions. Wednesday training is for the Teviot Valley team I play for on Friday nights. School lunchtime training often consists of me coaching my team rather than training myself, although I also partake in the drills as well. These trainings are also a great way to build team structure among our school team and refine skills. Being in a small town, there are limited options in the way of basketball training but I am always training in my own time, often with my brother, to improve my own skills. We have a basketball hoop at our house and will often train together. I find this helps to improve my technical skills such as dribbling, rebounding and close shots.
Dream: To reach the highest level that I can achieve in basketball. Although I try to focus on my education, basketball is an important part of my life and my goal is to play as much as I can once I leave school. My hopes are to play for high-level Dunedin teams when I am studying there, and I will keep playing and improving my skills for as long as I can. Although I don’t see basketball as a career option, I would love to make it as far as I can due to my passion for the sport.
Motivation: My competitive nature and passion for the sport is what motivates me to do well and improve in basketball. I enjoy playing the sport and strive to improve my skills as much as possible. Since being introduced to basketball at 7-8, I have always had a passion for it. My parents are also a huge motivation for me. They are very supportive and help me to play as much as possible. I am a very competitive person which means I will always do my best to win.
ARCHIE VORGERS (15)
Bayfield High School
Sport: Springboard and platform diving.
Highlight: Competing in Australia in 2022 and getting to be part of the New Zealand team competing in Adelaide in August this year.
Training: Six hours of pool/diving per week, plus two hours in the gym working on strength and conditioning.
Dream: To go as far as I can while still getting as much enjoyment out of diving as I do now.
Motivation: The challenge of learning new dives and the thrill of diving off the 10m board. Also, the great friends I have made throughout the sport and support of my coach keep me motivated and going back for more.
