Western Heights High player to run with Maori All Blacks

Bailey Gordon, 16, from Western Heights High School will be taking part in the Maori All Blacks' Captain's run tomorrow. Photo / Stephen Parker

Western Heights High School student Bailey Gordon may be getting his own once-in-a-lifetime experience tomorrow, but he hopes it will help his school first XV.

Gordon, 16, has been chosen to take part in the ASB Young Leaders Experience tomorrow - which includes being part of the Maori All Blacks' captain's run.

The Year 12 student has been part of the school first XV for two years and is regarded as having leadership potential for next year.

But the accolades don't stop there - he is a member of the Chiefs under-17 squad and the Bay of Plenty under-16 squad.

"I'm pretty excited about it," he said of tomorrow's activities. "Not many boys my age get too many opportunities to do something like this."

He hopes, from the captain's run, to learn things from both training and leadership perspectives, that he can take back to his first XV teammates.

"I hope it will also make me a bit more confident and a better player."

Head of rugby at Western Heights, Carleen James, nominated Gordon for the experience.

"Bailey has a high level of skill in sport and is now being groomed as a young leader within the school and also the first XV rugby team," she wrote.

"He shows a high level of commitment to his team and is leading team members with his work ethic and role modelling within the sport and also academically in all his classes.

"Bailey takes pride in his appearance, is punctual to games and training, and is a popular member of school and among his rugby peers. It is this popularity that he uses to his advantage to encourage other students to strive for their best."

James is also a head of house at the school and said Gordon was a prospective house leader.

"These are new directions that Bailey needs to step up into, and that's why we've put him forward. He's got an awesome attitude when it comes to training, game playing and things like that, it's just his next step in being a leader in the first XV."

Gordon plays either first or second five-eighth.

James said she hoped Gordon would be looking at what the Maori All Blacks players were dong at the training and what he can bring back to the school team.

"Hopefully he'll see how exciting it is to be around these guys who are playing professional rugby and say 'look at this, this is cool, this is where I want to be'. It's about identifying pathways."

James said when the staff at the school first showed him the letter saying he would
be part of the leadership experience he was shell shocked.

"He was like, 'wow, do I get to do all of this?'. I said, 'yes, this is about you, so we want you to get in there and make the most of it'."

Gordon would like to pursue rugby as a career and take that as far as he can.

But shorter term, he said, he'd like to be selected as captain for next year's first XV and be part of the Bay of Plenty under-17 set up and possibly the Chiefs under-18 squad.