If anyone needed convincing of the genetic predisposition then brother Jacob puts the theory to bed as a second-year member of the rollicking Hastings Boys' High School first XV rugby team.
"He's a blindside flanker now but last year he was a fullback and No 12 [second five-eighth]," she says of the 17-year-old, who returned from the Rabbitohs in the NRL in Australia following a stint from November to April.
So where does mother Kelly, a second-year nursing student at Ucol fit into the matrix?
"Oh mum was pretty good until she started having babies," says a jovial Stephenson of Kelly, who was a midcourter with the now defunct perennial champions Physique 2000.
The other male siblings are Hoera, 14, a pivot with the HBHS Under-15s rugby side, 9-year-old Richie and 5-year-old Jearrad jnr who both attend Tamaki nui a Rua.
"Both mum and dad are hard out in their gym thing right now."
Born in Hastings, Stephenson left with the family for Dannevirke when she was 3.
She attended the academy-type set up of Yvette McCausland-Durie, the Silver Ferns assistant coach and Central Pulse mentor who is director of learning, teaching and sport at Manukura (secondary school) in Palmerston North.
Under McCausland-Durie's tutelage, she was ordained a defender but, while playing for Manukura in late 2015, Stephenson landed awkwardly on a player's foot and broke her right ankle, crushing any Pulse dreams she may have harboured.
"I had to have three operations to get things sorted but now I'm feeling 100 per cent," she says, revealing that injury plays on her mind every so often but she puts a boot to it.
Her ex-school won the secondary crown as Tu Toa from 2010-13 then as Manukura in 2014. They also won premier club titles in 2012 and 2014.
Stephenson is in a happy place with Otane, slipping on the favourite goal keep bib after the team clinched the four-round shield stage of the competition.
"I've been coached there so if I'm chucked into goal shoot it becomes a work on because I'm not a 100 per cent shooter."
Nevertheless, she has no qualms about helping out her team when tough times require desperate measures, mindful her co-coaches had the challenging task of tinkering with combinations for fluency although she is aware keeping the bib is another story.
"As long as you're getting on the court, you can't argue with that," she says, filling the shooting shoes of Ashlee Wilson when she was injured.
Stephenson relishes playing alongside seasoned campaigners Alex Balhorn, 30, and Briar Chalmers, 26, in the defensive circle.
"They are incredible. The ball that they get is ... well," she says, adding Balhorn looks and plays like a 20-year-old.
Stephenson embraces Otane's welcoming but competitive culture which hinges on "positivity".
"We don't go to training to have a yarn but to work hard. We have fun too but you have to work first to enjoy that."
Stephenson will see how things will pan out this year but intends to play for Old Girls' Manukura in Palmy on Tuesdays and Otane on Fridays here from next season.
As a small-town battler, she believes it's imperative to give something back to Dannevirke, which has moulded her constitution.
She also coaches the Dannevirke High School side and her commitment to Otane is reflected in driving up and back for training, never mind games.
TONIGHT'S GAMES
Draws for rd 3 of the Super 8 HB premier netball competition at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, Taradale:
■ 6.15pm: Outkast Optimise Physio v All In Elusive, PGA 2.
Umpires: N Corbett & H Lewis.
■ 6.15pm: NGHS Senior A v HGHS Senior A, PGA 1.
Umpires: J Varcoe & D Murphy.
■ 7.45pm: Otane Thirsty Whale v Central Sports Vet Services HB, PGA 2.
Umpires: K Ives & N Walker.
■ 7.45pm: HHSOG Proactive Huias v HHSOG Spicers Keas, PGA 1.
Umpires: T Douglas & T Gardiner.
Reserve umpires: 6.16pm T Gardiner. 7.45pm N Corbett. 7.45, court2. S1, S Spencer. S2, C Jamieson. T1, S Benge/D Davy. T2, K Karena.
Bench officials: 6.15pm court 1, S1, D Pearse. S2, S Walker. T1, M Newland. T2, E Varcoe. BM, J Stairmand. Court 2, S1, S.Benge. S2.
