Women demonstrate their strength at Northland's Scottish Highland Games

Craig Walker watches on as United States competitor Tahlia Brody prepares to toss the caber. Photo / John Stone

While tradition and heritage are at the core of Waipū's famous Highland Games, the Caledonian Society doesn't shy away from introducing new elements into one of the longest-running Scottish gatherings in the Southern Hemisphere – and this year was marked by a great boost for women.

For the first time in its 149-year history, the Highland Games featured a women's division in the heavyweight competition, with four contestants taking up the challenge.

Sonia Tompkins, Rachel Boyce-Bacon, Dee Field and Tahlia Brody took it to the grand arena to throw 10kg stones and Gaelic hammers – the same weights as the men were heaving – and tried their skills at caber tossing.

Tompkins said competing was a fun experience and she was glad to have joined alongside her friends, Boyce-Bacon and Field.

"It feels very unbalanced when you lift the caber, and you're constantly trying to adjust. You just really have to go with the momentum. It's quite the adrenaline rush once you let go of it."

While Brody, who had played rugby for Bay of Plenty during the last season, had come up North specifically to join the Highland Games, the trio around Tompkins are a group of local friends who were keen to take on a new challenge.

"We are all going to the same gym, and we were having a coffee together one day, and I just asked the others. It was great to have a goal to work towards to," Field said.

In preparation for the Games, the group held a few training sessions at the beach throwing heavy objects and makeshift weights, including concrete-filled pots they made in their garage.

Field said she was surprised they didn't have women's section earlier and welcomed the new opportunity.

Prominent female athletes, including Valerie Adams in 2003, had joined the Waipū Games for the heavyweight competitions before, however, having a separate women's division is new.

Rugby player Brody who is originally from the United States said having a separate division might boost women's confidence and make them more comfortable when competing in the sport.