Katie Te Ao may only be in her second year for the Northern Mystics but has already solidified her role in the team’s aspirations to defend their ANZ Championship title.
“I’m excited just to go out there and show everyone what we’ve been doing in the off-season and bring it,” she says.
After a 12-week pre-season campaign, Vice-captain Phoenix Karaka is confident in her squad’s readiness going into their first game of the season this weekend.
“We have the fitness but we also have the skill set to know how to win,” says Karaka (Tainui).
“So I’m confident but also not naive to know that other teams want to take us down.”
Te Ao was born in Auckland but, at three, moved to Perth with her parents who were looking for a lifestyle change. Her innate competitiveness meant she rapidly learned the sport – playing in defence for Western Australia age group sides from the age of 12, then making the Australian team to play in an international schools tournament in Fiji in 2017. It was there she first met her current teammate Tayla Earle (Tainui).
“I was playing for Aotearoa Māori in Fiji and Katie was playing for Aussie and we connected because I was going to school with her cousin - Me and Mum bribed her to play for Waiariki. So this is the first time playing with her since Waiariki,” Earle says.
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Returning to New Zealand in her teens and moving in with her grandparents in Tuakau, Te Ao learned more about her identity as a Māori.
“Growing up in Perth I didn’t know who I was or where I came from, so yeah I’ve learned a lot about my whakapapa and where I’m from and my connections all over Aotearoa.”
Te Ao says she is not only eyeing up another championship but also a spot on the Silver Ferns squad eventually. “For now I’m just going to do my best for the Mystics and let that happen in its own time.”
The Mystics take on the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic this Saturday at Globox Arena Hamilton