The former Whanganui High School student has moved to Australia, attending Maroochydore State School on the Sunshine Coast, to progress her career.
She is now based at Shamrock Boxing Club in Queensland and is in the middle of a three-week training camp in preparation for the Youth Futures Cup.
Parkes said she had been training twice a day, five days a week, to put herself in the best position to succeed.
She said it was a nice surprise to be selected and it made her think of the progress she had made since she started.
“To get that email to say that I was going to wear the fern was something not everyone gets every day - you feel almost overwhelmed at the thought,” Parkes said.
“At the beginning, when thinking about going to Palmerston North to compete, you think, ‘oh my god I’m going to Palmerston North to compete’ but now we are flying over to Queensland and Thailand so it’s like, ‘was I really that afraid to box in Palmerston North?’.
“Now it’s like, ‘we are going boxing, where is your passport?’.”
Parkes, who normally competes in the 54kg weight category, boxed up at 57kg at the recent NZ Boxing Trials in Auckland, and impressed the judges.
Parkes will compete in Thailand in the 54kg category and will not know who she will face until she arrives.
The number of fights she would have depended on how many entered the weight category, Parkes said.
“Fifty-four kilos is a popular weight category so I’d imagine there will be quite a few,” she said.
If Parkes places in one of the top overall spots, she will be on track for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, which will create a pathway into the 2030 Commonwealth Games.
“I want to do it all,” Parkes said.
Parkes must raise more than $5000 to compete on the world stage.
To support Parkes, donations can be made through her Givealittle page givealittle.co.nz/cause/support-a-future-olympian
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
