Ryan Bridge speaks to a youth support worker helping rangitahi find employment.
Hawke’s Bay Magpies flanker and lock Frank Lochore is seizing opportunities on and off the rugby field, thanks to his determination and the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation.
Having recently signed with the NEC Green Rockets in Japan and named forward of the year in American Major League Rugbyfor time spent with the Utah Warriors, the grandson of the late All Blacks legend Sir Brian Lochore said it was always a goal to play professional rugby.
Yet off the field, he had other passions to pursue in the form of a trade, which he achieved with the help of his employer and the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) sports programme.
“I wanted to be a rugby player, but I also wanted to be a builder and to be currently doing both is pretty awesome,” Lochore said.
He got an apprenticeship with Schaw Building straight out of high school and talked about the importance of following both dreams.
“A lot of rugby players these days don’t have stuff behind them because they make rugby [a career] so early and find it hard when they have to leave the game.
“You never know when your last game might happen, and to have [a] career-ending injury and all of a sudden you’re back on the tools.”
Marcus Schaw (left) with Frank Lochore, who plays professional rugby and completed a building apprenticeship with BCITO.
National business development advisor for BCITO sport, Jeremy Benton, said the sports programme is designed to connect school leavers with apprenticeships through sports clubs and to help retiring athletes transition into new careers.
“Sport and trade have always gone hand in hand throughout New Zealand.”
Benton said all the good skills learnt in a sporting environment could be applied in the workplace.
Frank Lochore completed his building apprenticeship with BCITO and Schaw Building while playing professional rugby.
“We are working hard to marry those two up and help people with their journey on and off the field.”
Benton said the BCITO worked with sporting organisations and taught them how to use their networks, local businesses and sponsors to support players into apprenticeships and viable careers.
“It allows them to chase both, and whatever one takes priority, the other one can take a backward step.”
Marcus Schaw, who took Lochore on, currently employs six people in Central Hawke’s Bay and said he fully backed the BCITO sports programme.
“It’s been amazing to see him go from this tall, skinny kid to this big hulk of a man playing professional sport.”
Schaw said there was great importance in having a focus to keep fit outside of work hours.
“My motto is family first, then sport and then work – you have got to have a life outside of work.”
Schaw said it was important for employers to support their employees for the good of the trades industry and community.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
