Former Silver Fern and New Zealand women's touch champion Joan Hodson has done it all in sport but perhaps the greatest impact she's had is as a teacher.
The 35 Test Silver Fern was part of the iconic side that claimed gold at the 1987 Netball World Championships in Glasgow.
She played alongside trailblazers like Margharet Matenga, Wai Taumaunu, and Rita Fatialofa, a small group of Pasifika players to wear the black dress at that time.
Hodson was inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame with the 87' World Cup team, which was led by legendary coach Dame Lois Muir.
Born in Samoa, Hodson's family moved to Auckland in the 1960s when she was two.
"Most Polynesian families were in Herne Bay, Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, we lived there for a while and then when we could afford our own house we moved out to Manurewa, it was very rural back then too.
"Rewa hard ...Manurewa, I didn't know anything different," Hodson said.
Joan Hodson in action during the netball match between the Silver Ferns and Trinidad and Tobago, 1992. Photo: Photosport
When she made the Silver Ferns for the first time in 1986, it was a huge source of pride for her family.
"My mother was so proud, she was at probably every single game. And our house was like a shrine.
"Every single freaking club photo, my mother had framed and put it up and I mean if anyone wants to know why they were never ever asked to come back to my place that was the reason, it was so embarrassing.
"Lots of people from our community and especially our Catholic parish would come back and that's what they would be subjected to. And my brothers and sisters, I felt really sorry for them because it was like I was an only child."
Hodson was a multi-talented sports woman. She played in two World Championship finals in 1991, including the Netball World Champs, where the Silver Ferns were pipped by rivals Australia by one goal.
Months later she became a world champion, with the senior New Zealand women's touch team.
Former Silver Ferns Joan Hodson and Wai Taumaunu, playing in the domestic NZ competition. Photo: Supplied
After retiring from the Silver Ferns, Hodson became a top ranked international netball umpire for a number of years.
The Samoan Sports Hall of Fame inductee coached the Auckland Diamonds in 2003 before moving to Taranaki where she has continued to be involved with the game, including a period as president of Netball Taranaki.
Hodson, a Dean and PE teacher at New Plymouth's Sacred Heart Girls College, has coached netball to thousands of girls over a 35 year teaching career.
Her love for the game runs deep - she's been known to get up at the crack of dawn to give extra training to up and coming netballers.
She's seen a lot of change over the years and says the young women she teaches have so many choices now.
"But the love of netball is still there ...it's still probably our most popular sport. But yeah there's lots available now and with the support of parents girls can do anything, if they're interested in something."
The stats have been showing for some time that girls are dropping out of sport at much higher rates than boys. And there is a marked drop-off in young women doing sport and recreation between the ages of 15 and 17.
So why is that?
"Times have changed you know and people's choices change over the years ...many are interested in things outside of sport.
"And for girls that's probably more attractive is that side of things especially nowadays, girls work really hard out of school and set themselves up because they can see now that you could be an influencer if you wanted to be."
Joan Hodson (left) with Rita Fatialofa when they were both Silver Ferns. Photo: Supplied
Hodson said she loved teaching at an all girls school.
"Girls love PE and we have a really high rate, you know there's not many that sit out and when I was at co-ed schools that was totally different.
"But they are choosing elsewhere because of what society presents for them. Unless they get the bug when they're younger then sport is just a hobby."
If anyone has earnt the right so slow down, it's Hodson.
The 59-year-old told Netball Taranaki that this was her last year of being on committees and she's also stepping away from coaching.
"I'm not going to be doing any netball at all after this year, besides watching. I still love that and I still love going to live games, oh my gosh there's nothing like it."
Made in collaboration with The Kiwi Netball Show
