Dr Sierra Keung

To my students (past, present and future),

My dream as a young girl was to get a scholarship to play college ball in the USA and go on to play in the WNBA #TeamAirSwoopes. I played reps all through the age groups until I let one coach derail my dreams, and I "subbed out" for good. Would I have achieved my dream? I'll never know. But standing where I am now, I know that I never want to be THE reason, a young person walks away from their dreams.

To my students that see themselves in me, I see you! Especially YOU, under your hoodie, sitting in the back row, with your headphones on, hiding your phone under the desk. I did the same thing when I came through Uni! Don't expect to stay there in that same position. I need you to work on your game so that you can play my position too. Study the rules of the game, then add your flair. We can run through the plays in class because there will come a time when I need to "sub-out".

Being an Indigenous female scholar in the School of #autsportandrec, I am the only ONE. My responsibility is to ensure you are confident in BEING Māori & Pasifika no matter what field you play on because the system and society doesn't always support and respect our privilege and right to BE. Take pride in who we represent. We deserve to be in the Starting Line-up!"

Dr Keung