Silver Fern Maia Wilson (Te Rarawa,Te Waiohua) is excited to help weave Māori culture into New Zealand netball.
She hopes to eventually see "iwi influences" reflected in the uniform of the Auckland team she captains - the Northern Stars.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Maia became a Silver Fern at 19 and is already in her second stint captaining the Northern Stars.
"As a young woman who's only 24 that's a massive responsibility that I don't take lightly to be able to captain a side, in particular a side I've been able to grow with and help grow."
She tells Julian Wilcox that it's a privilege to represent her own whenua and at the same time educate her fellow Northern Stars about the indigenous history of Tāmaki-Makaruau.
Last year, the Northern Stars became the first professional women's netball team to perform a haka live on television.
"[Incorporating Māori cultural influence] just gives a bit of context and depth into who we really are… and knowledge about what was there before we were there.'
"It's mana-enhancing to the franchise not only to have the support of manawhenua [local Māori], but for the team to know who we really represent.
"The more parties we can bring together to deepen that culture and to deepen that identity, the more confident we're going to be as an organisation and as wahine."
In team sport it's always about the collective rather than the individual, Maia says.
When players can't get team training in, they make sure they're "grinding behind the scenes at home".
"[We're] just rolling with the punches. You train with people when you can."
Maia's other team - the Silver Ferns - are also doing their best to "align" with the ever changing uncertainty brought by Covid-19, she says.
To help prepare for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this July, she's grateful they were able to travel to London for the Netball Quad Series last month - the team's first time playing overseas since the pandemic began.
