Multisport: Fun name of game for sporty teen

Jodi Stevens spends much of her time competing or training for sport and says playing professionally holds appeal. Photo / Stephen Parker

Last weekend, 15-year-old Jodi Stevens was playing at the Aotearoa Maori netball tournament in Wellington.

The week before, she was competing in the New Zealand Secondary Schools volleyball championship for Western Heights High School.

Next week, she will travel back down to the windy city to train with the New Zealand junior women's volleyball squad.

And after the Easter school break, Jodi will attend training sessions for her national water polo age-group squad.

If that sounds like a busy schedule, it is: she had to give up playing basketball this year because there was just too much on. But for someone so young, who seems to spend her whole life competing (and winning), Jodi is disarmingly level-headed.

"It's just for fun. If we lose a game we should have won it's irritating, but it's still fun," she told the Rotorua Daily Post.

Her mother, Jacqui Stevens, agreed.

"It's called a game because it's supposed to be fun," she said.

"Some of the coaches even get frustrated because they think she's not taking it seriously. But that's how she plays."

And Jodi's unfazed approach on the court or in the pool does not seem to have hindered her progress.

She has been representing Rotorua and the Bay of Plenty in volleyball, netball and water polo since she was 10 years old.

Jodi comes from a sporting family. Jacqui and her husband Dana Stevens used to play soccer, while Jodi's four sisters all played water polo while growing up.

Jacqui said she was always happy to hear praise for Jodi, but maintained that all five of her daughters were "exceptional" in their own ways.

"We're just really impressed with the things that she does," she said.

There are costs associated with playing so many sports, all across the country.

At the end of last month, the Stevens family set up a Give A Little page to fund Jodi's training camps.

By attending the volleyball training, Jodi has the chance to be selected for trips to Australia and Thailand. But Jacqui said those camps could cost anywhere between $250 and $500, excluding travel costs.

"Give A Little has been awesome, we've been really blown away by the generosity," she said.

Jodi's sister Corey, 21, said the donations on the page had been "humbling".

Lesley Setu, volleyball manager at Western Heights, said Jodi did not realise how good she was at sports.

"We call her the mother blanket of the volleyball team, because when the team is down Jodi brings them together," Lesley said.

When asked about the future, Jodi said that she "probably" did want to play sport professionally, but was reluctant to decide on just which one.

"I hate disappointing people, so I don't want to say no to any coach."

Given her track record, all her various coaches must be hoping she carries on with their sport for a while yet - even if she is just "having fun" with it.

To donate go to https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/jodistevensnzrep