For an athlete, representing your country, your culture and your whānau is the pinnacle. This weekend, one Rotorua rugby player will enjoy the unique opportunity to represent both sides of his family at the same
Ngongotahā's Kobe Hewitt to play for New Zealand Fiji Schools sevens team
Lining up alongside him in the Fiji New Zealand team is Tauranga Boys' College's Veveni Lasaqa.
"When I played at [the Condor National Secondary School Sevens] last year I tried making higher honours so I applied for those teams. I didn't end up making them but I gave it another go this year and made the wider squad," Hewitt says.
"I was over the moon when I was named in the team. To be able to do something for my family and our culture, to be able to represent my family from Fiji and the ones who have passed away, it's pretty surreal. They'd definitely be proud."
He said the Fijian players in his team were great to be around - full of flair and a love for the game, they play a free-flowing, unstructured style of rugby. Hewitt's role in the team will be as a playmaker, tasked by the coaches with bringing some balance to the side.
"This team has lost in the final to New Zealand every year since it started three years ago. To be in that team that has always made the final is pretty exciting.
"What I want to get out of it is just to make my family proud. The main goal is to win, obviously, but just to be there and represent Fiji and New Zealand at the same time is awesome.
"Our strength will be the skills and some of the other boys are huge. The Fijians love to use the ball, carry it one hand, have a laugh. The coaches wanted a bit more structure and balance from me but the biggest thing they told us is it's about learning about Fiji, the culture and where we come from."
Hewitt played senior rugby for Ngongotahā for the first time this year which he said was a good learning experience.
"I play winger and fullback, it was definitely different going from school to playing against men. The game play is a lot slower which is good for me because I love sevens so it made it a bit easier for me to move around.
"The physicality is crazy, at my body weight, trying to tackle those big guys is unbelievable. I love it though, I love trying to tackle the bigger guys."
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Blessed with speed and elusiveness, the pace of sevens is right up Hewitt's alley.
"I love how fast it is, there's no time for resting, you're always having to move."
Kobe's mum Jessie said his achievement had helped bring the extended family together.
"We're quite spread out now, we've all gone our different ways but this has helped bring us back to our culture. We've had some passing of family members so it's cool to have something positive bring us together."
I was over the moon when I was named in the team. To be able to do something for my family and our culture, to be able to represent my family from Fiji and the ones who have passed away, it's pretty surreal. They'd definitely be proud.
His dad Darren, who played rugby league for the Junior Kiwis himself, described his son as "a late bloomer".
"We've always wanted to make sure he's a good person as well as a good athlete. He's got a great work ethic so it's nice to see that rewarded now. When you don't get into the Bay of Plenty Academy or things like that early it can be quite hard to get noticed but he has worked really hard to get to this point," he said.
Hewitt is not the only Bay of Plenty player selected for the tournament. Meanwhile, Rotorua Boys' High School students Cassius Misa, Tama Te Aute, Stuart Leach and Manu Paea are all in the Condor New Zealand Under-18 Schools team.