Rotorua's Hope Parata-Kingi has wasted no time finding her feet in the Bay of Plenty women's sevens team. Photo / Supplied
Rotorua's Hope Parata-Kingi has wasted no time finding her feet in the Bay of Plenty women's sevens team. Photo / Supplied
The beauty of the TECT National Sevens is many of the teams are made up of players from a wide range of sporting backgrounds. The Bay of Plenty men and women are no different.
Hope Parata-Kingi has been back in Bay of Plenty for little more than a month andshe's already eyeing national glory with the women's sevens team.
The 17-year-old was born in Rotorua but moved to Australia when she was 4. While there her love for sport was evident, trying her hand at rugby league, sevens and even Australian rules football.
Now, she has now returned to Rotorua and joined the Bay of Plenty women's sevens team that is competing at the TECT National Sevens in Tauranga this weekend.
"I moved back for family and to learn what rugby is like here as well as getting to know more about my culture," she said.
"I did play sevens in Australia for about a year but it has been a little bit hard going from Aussie rules to rugby. I think the hardest thing is just getting used to a new environment.
"It has been really good having so many experienced players around me [in the Bay of Plenty team], it's really amazing getting that knowledge from them and helping me."
She wasted no time starting the transition to sevens, participating in the Red Bull Ignite7 event last month.
"I was in the Bolt team for Ignite, it was really good having a new coach and new players - coming together was hard at the start but getting to know everyone and getting all that experience was really good.
The Bay of Plenty women's sevens team is a tight-knit unit. Photo / Supplied
"I was a little bit nervous at the start but I thought after I got through the first game I started to ease into it better. Sevens is something that I want to keep playing in the future and it's really good seeing more pathways for women in all sports, especially sevens. [Being a professional athlete] has always been one of my top dreams."
Hope said the strength of the Bay of Plenty women's team, which was coached by her aunt Victoria Grant, would be the bond the players had developed.
"One of our biggest strengths is working really well together, being really positive and helping each other - getting through it and working through things together, the team environment is really good.
"[Grant] has been really helpful and she's obviously a good coach so she's been helping me with training, helping make that transition from league and Aussie rules a bit easier."
Meanwhile, the Bay of Plenty men's sevens team will also draw on the experience of athletes with a range of different backgrounds. One of those is Rotorua's Mathew Skipwith-Garland, a cornerstone of the championship-winning Bay of Plenty Steamers this year.
Bay of Plenty men's sevens player Mathew Skipwith-Garland listens in during a team talk. Photo / Supplied
This will be Skipwith-Garland's third appearance at the New Zealand National Rugby Sevens Tournament but his first for his home province, having represented Hawke's Bay in 2016 and 2017.
"I'm pretty excited, playing for my home province will be pretty cool," he said.
"Sevens is a good change, I originally just said I'd do it to stay fit, hoping for a Super Rugby call up but the team is really close now, we've had a few tournaments together.
"We're feeling pretty confident going into the national competition this weekend so I'm looking forward to it."
He said Bay of Plenty did not boast the biggest players around but he was confident they had the quality to succeed.
"Hopefully our hard working pack and a bit of razzle from the likes of Rewita Biddle, who did some pre-season with the New Zealand Sevens and experienced guys will go well.
"There's a lot of youth but a few old heads around too, to keep the boys on the task."
The Bay of Plenty men's sevens team will have their eyes on the prize at the TECT National Sevens in Tauranga. Photo / Supplied
An elusive centre in the 15-aside game, Skipwith-Garland's skillset lends itself nicely to sevens and he said his mindset did not have to change too much.
"You just have to work hard, do the basics right and hope everything else falls into place. It's all about that hard-working mindset really.
"My first training session was a bit of a shock, I've never felt my lungs expand that far before but the last couple of weeks I've been training my butt off to get sevens-fit and hopefully I'm there now."
The TECT National Sevens is being held at the Tauranga Domain on Saturday and Sunday.
The Bay of Plenty men are in Pool D alongside Taranaki, North Harbour and Manawatu.
The Bay of Plenty women are in Pool C where they will play Auckland, North Harbour and Otago on day one before the knockout stages on day two.
Day one pool play for Bay of Plenty: 10.25am: BOP women vs Otago, Field 2. 12.05pm: BOP men vs Manawatu, Field 1. 1.05pm: BOP women vs North Harbour, Field 1. 2.05pm: Official welcome and opening ceremony, Field 1, for all teams. 3.15pm: BOP men vs North Harbour, Field 2. 3.55pm: BOP women vs Auckland, Field 2. 5.35pm: BOP men vs Taranaki, Field 1. 5.55pm: End of day one.
