High performance Māori & Pacific Engineering student athletes

The big difference between the two is the respective sports they’ve ended up committing to. Brad has stayed with Rugby Union, and now plays for North Harbour and the Auckland Blues A Side. Casey played a Rugby League tournament a couple of years ago which led to a role in the Vodafone Warriors Juniors.

Brad is a quarter Samoan, a quarter Tongan, half Kiwi, and is in the fifth year of his degree. He chose Engineering because it suited his “creative and problem-solving nature”, and picked Electrical and Electronic Engineering as his specialisation after connecting with it in his first year of study.

Casey’s iwi is Ngati Porou, and has just started the second year of his degree. He came to Engineering because he was good at maths and enjoyed geography, so naturally he’s chosen to specialise in Civil Engineering as he likes the environmental component of it.

Brad and Casey are aware that there will be challenges in balancing study with growing sporting careers that demand multiple training sessions each week and games on weekends. So far, both have had to make sacrifices to ensure they’re dedicating enough time and effort to both their sport and their study.

“There are challenges if you're passionate about anything that takes up time,” Brad explains. “With rugby and study it takes a lot of time management and being organised.”

“Last year I still did full-time study, and we were training four or five times a week. So yeah, it was quite tough to grasp at the start, but it worked out alright,” Casey said.

“This year I’ll have a bigger role in the team, so it will be harder than last year.”

As they go through their degrees, they’re both realising the value of support networks, here at the university and in their personal lives. With the Warriors, Casey benefits from a wellbeing system run by former players to ensure new recruits are supported. His grandfather and older brother are also engineers who are able to offer guidance as he makes his way through the degree.

“I've got a support system around me - both on and off the field - from family, North Harbour and then just recently with the Blues,” says Brad. “I think the one thing they've taught me is just being open with people.”

Networks like the Tuākana Engineering Programme and the South Pacific Indigenous Engineering Students (SPIES) have added to these support structures, particularly for Brad who is now five years into his study.

“The good thing about them is the connections with people you make, and it's another support system off the field,” he says.

Casey made use of the extra academic support the Tuākana programme offers in his first year and said he’s looking at joining SPIES this year to add another element to his student life.

Brad and Casey are proving that with a bit of sacrifice and a solid support network it’s possible to balance an Engineering degree with other passions. Both students say the key to their ongoing success is the ability to manage their time and to communicate effectively. By using their days to the fullest and taking all the opportunities on offer, Brad and Casey are proving it’s possible to succeed in multiple high-performance areas at once.

The Faculty of Engineering supports a range of extracurricular activities for students, encouraging travel through programmes like 360 International and offering course advice and assistance from out student engagement team.

This article was originally published in Link News.