Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tātau katoa - Kia ora, kei Ignite Sport tāku mahi, ko Jessie tāku ingoa.
In my school years at Heretaunga College I was able to participate in the Ignite Sport Ontrack and Sports Leaders programmes.
During my time with Ignite Sport I was able to take away these learnings:
I was able to learn many valuable life skills and all of them have helped shape me to be the person I am today.
A quote that I still remember is “We should care more about our character than our reputation. Our character is who we really are, our reputation is who people think we are.”- John Wooden.
2021 Fusion Whānau
I was unsure of what I wanted to pursue once I finished college but what I did know was that I enjoyed working alongside rangatahi. He aha te mea nui? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the most important thing in the world? It is the people, it is the people, and it is the people.
I remembered the youth work Ignite Sport did for me and in 2019 I took the opportunity to join their team as a volunteer. In 2020 I was able to fully join the Ignite Sport team as a staff member.
Being a youth development worker has been rewarding. Poipoia te kakano puawai meaning nurture the seed and it will grow. To me, this means passing on the knowledge and life skills that I have learnt to the next generations. It’s being a positive role model, to encourage and to support young people in making wise choices.
Nōku te maringanui kia mahi tahi ki te taha o te whānau o Ignite, kia whakanui I to tātau Ariki. Ngā mihi mo te pahuitia I ōku kōrero. Kia ora.