Transcript
Before every rugby game 17-year-old Ayesha Leti-I'iga performs a special ritual to honour her mother who died seven years ago.
"I take my hand and I write her name on my wrist and it feels like when I'm running with the ball she's right next to me, I can just picture her screaming from the sidelines."
Ayesha, who is New Zealand born Samoan, was taken in by her grandparents and has played rugby for several New Zealand national teams. She credits her win of the sports and fitness award to the support from her family but says she initially had to overcome negative attitudes towards Samoan women in sport, including from her own grandparents. So she's added coaching to her schedule to help other women overcome those barriers.
AYESHA LETI-IIGA: For the love of the sport, if you love the sport you want to progress it especially for girls, you want to teach them that there's more to rugby.
DANIELA MAOATE-COX: Even your grandparents were a little doubtful at the start?
ALI: Yeah they didn't want me to play rugby because it's a contact sport but eventually they gave in to my uncle and them.
DM-C: Do they come to your games?
ALI: Yeah! To every game now.
The recipient of the Leadership and Inspiration award Josiah Tualamali'i also attributes his success to the support of his family.
Like Ayesha, Josiah is New Zealand born Samoan but says he didn't always feel connected to his Pacific heritage because his Samoan father was discouraged from embracing the culture.
"I grew up not really understanding the value or the importance of that and it wasn't till I was 14 that I kind of saw that something was missing, I just knew that my Pacific identity was something I really wanted to strive to understand and once I got more confident I'd help other Pacific people like myself."
Josiah helped establish the Pacific Youth Leadership And Transformation Council,- an organisation which gets young Pacific people involved in politics. He says it's important young Pacific people know they have a voice.
"The big thing is that they want to have a voice but it's important that the way the discussion is framed is something that engages them quickly. They want to be able to know what's going on in the world and then talk about how the Pacific matters through the different issues that New Zealand faces."
Ensuring Pacific youth have the confidence to pursue their goals is also the focus of 18-year-old Roneima Teumohenga who is of Tokelauan, Tongan and Samoan heritage. Roneima has been awarded the science, technology, engineering and mathematics award and started a study group at her high school to help those who couldn't afford tutoring.
"I just wanted to make a sense of study is cool, it is cool to study because it will get you to places in terms of after high school, you know tertiary institutions and things like that."
Roneima was born with permanent hearing loss but says this hasn't stopped her from excelling in study and in sport.
"People have this perception that people who do wear hearing aids are either elderly or intellectually disabled or something but anyone can wear hearing aids and just be fine."
Speaking to the recipients Prime Minister John Key said the winners are role models and their success is demonstrating why young Pacific people are the future of the country.
