Te Atawahi Maginness
New Zealand Ultimate named the Under 24 Mixed Team to compete at the 2019 Malaysian Opens in Malaysia from 22 to 23 June 2019. The squad, coached by Liam Haberfield has been preparing players for the tournament with two national training camps. Selected were past Kapiti College students Ballad Woodley (21) and Te Atawhai Maginness (20), both who play for the University of Canterbury Ultimate team. Woodley and Maginness picked up the game 2 years ago and play and train with local Christchurch clubs and the university. They will be playing for Mangopare the NZ under 24 mixed team. Both are very excited about the upcoming trip and to be representing NZ in the sport. Woodley-Hanan made up his mind 18 months ago to make a NZ team in the sport, "I absolutely love the game and knew from being a competitive swimmer I had the discipline and I just took every opportunity to play any game I could to gain experience".
Following the Malaysian tournament Maginness who was also selected for the NZ women’s under 24 team will head for Europe for the Ultimate world champs, in Heidelberg, Germany from Saturday 13th July to Saturday 20th July, 2019. Maginness has shown herself to be a great force in the team and was nominated this year for outstanding emerging talent for the sport. She says her life has been ridiculously busy with uni, work and training's. " I’ve been sprint training, strength training, and playing in 3 leagues, I'm so excited to be finally going".
Ballad Woodley-Hanan
Ultimate Frisbee or Ultimate as its usually called combines the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of football with the aerial passing skills of netball, a game of Ultimate is played by two teams with a flying disc or Frisbee™ on a field with end zones, similar to touch rugby. Ultimate is considered unique because even at international level the sport is self-refereed, governed by the Spirit of the Game which is written into the rules. It is hoped that the Olympics in 2024 will include the game.
Article - Amanda Hanan