WINNING LINE-UP: Stacey Michelsen, Brooke Neal, Emma Foy, Chris Sharp, Cameron Leslie and Blair Tuke. PHOTO/ LANGWOODS
Northland's Olympians credit growing up in the region with giving them the edge. Northern Advocate sports editor Andrew Johnsen writes about their inspirational homegrown stories.
"The North promotes self-assuredness. We don't have a booming economy, we don't have jobs at every turn. Sport is actually our clear avenue for going ahead in life and we will grab it."
Para-sailor Chris Sharp's sentiments echoed in the hushed gymnasium, disguised as a banquet hall, as the crowd at the CSG Konica Minolta Northland Sports Awards listened earnestly to every word the esteemed panel of Rio Olympians from Northland said.
The panel, made up of Sharp, para-cyclist Emma Foy, para-swimmer Cameron Leslie, sailor Blair Tuke and hockey players Stacey Michelsen and Brooke Neal, had the room enthralled as they recounted their Rio experiences, their family support and how Northland shaped them.
Sharp, who grew up in Kerikeri, said sport was a measuring point for him and his peers in terms of their success.
"I'd have to be very honest and say academically I couldn't have cared less about school."
The audience chuckled.
"It meant nothing other than that gave me a vehicle to actually sail by. My whole interest was sailing. In the Far North, that was an incredibly strong thing," Sharp said.
"When I left there, I was the most cocky, confident young bastard out there. I knew what I could do because this place had given me all of that knowledge.
"So I went to the big city with a serious attitude and I can thank the Far North very strongly for that because it breeds tough cookies, you know. The people that come from here know what they can do and we're not scared ever to be proud of where we come from."
Scotty 'Sumo' Stevenson, who hosted the panel, moved to Tuke, a two time gold medallist in the 49-er skiff sailing class with his partner Peter Burling.
Tuke remembers seeing family and friends on the beach at Rio, including a pair in a full Kiwi suit, and it reminded him of how much the campaign meant.
"Yeah that was my little brother Jess and my mate Mitch (in the suit)," he laughs, followed by loud chuckling from the engrossed listeners.
"That was really cool to have some family and friends on the beach and it means a lot to work so hard and to have them, as the people next to me [on the panel] would agree, supporting you is a big part of it."
Leslie, who broke his own world record on route to his third consecutive gold medal in the SM4 150m medley at the Paralympics, recounted the pain he felt at the end of his final.
"There's this footage of me leaning across the lane rope and I put my head down and was just grimacing in pain and I think that's where the emotion was," he recalled.
"I wanted my competitor to know that was a bloody good time but I didn't want them to know how much it hurt.
"I guess that sums me up. Like you can be emotional in some settings, but at the same time you don't want to let your opponents know how tough that was."
All the panellists brought their own slice of humour to the proceedings, with the audience lapping it up as they got a glimpse into the lives of high performance athletes.
Foy provided the funniest moment of the panel, if not the night, in response to Stevenson's question about her battles with cycling partner Laura Thompson.
"We're together probably six weeks, two months at a time training together, living together and in a hotel room together so we have our tense moments, as you'd imagine."
"She plays a few games with me when we're riding. She plays tricks and stuff but you know, she also does things, she farts in my face."
The crowd cried tears of laughter at the absurdity of the statement. It took a minute, but Foy was able to say how she got her back.
"I stop pedalling so it backfires on her pretty fast."
Stevenson said he doesn't think he's ever had a better answer to a question, ever.
Black Sticks Neal and Michelsen focused more on their upbringing in Northland.
Neal pointed to the influence of her brother, Black Stick Shay Neal, on her during their childhood.
"Growing up we had quite a competitive childhood. Living about five minutes' walk from the turf, we would always go over, and at home he'd strap goalie pads onto my legs, put me in a helmet and just hit hockey balls at me," she said proudly.
"We did this constantly from when I was about three which is when we both started playing hockey. I got a few bruises but it definitely toughened me up."
Rio gave the Neal family moments they won't forget.
"I'm very grateful for him and it was pretty special to be over there amongst ten thousand other athletes and then see your big brother walking towards you. Sharing some special moments over there with him and my Mum and Dad as well was very special for both of us."
Michelsen was given the final word from the panel, and used it to tell the Northland crowd how important the province was to her development into one of the more experienced players in New Zealand.
"One of the biggest things for me was just being surrounded by people that were like-minded and wanted to do well in sport.
"I think up here, doing sport in your spare time was something that was so normal and I think that's what helped both me and the other girls I came through with to get better. And also just having so many people in Northland that wanted to invest time in us."
"We have amazing facilities up here and there are so many coaches and people that were willing to help us in their spare time and I think that really got us to another level probably earlier than a lot of the other girls from other regions that didn't have that kind of support."
The panel lasted 25 minutes but not one person noticed the clock ticking. All that mattered was how important Northland was to these athletes and how they could continue their influence over the next generation of talented sportsmen and women.