Sienna Todd’s family has a saying that “winners are grinners” and she has good reason to grin as she heads to the Global Youth Sevens tournament in Auckland.
The talented 15-year-old Waimea College student has been awarded the annual McGlashen Pharmacy Young Achiever Scholarship which provides a welcome $1,000 toward the upcoming tournament. For someone who had no desire to play tackle rugby, she has come a long way in the past couple of years. Always a strong athlete who has excelled at athletics and touch rugby, it initially took a bit coercion to get her to play rugby.
Her father Tommy Moffitt says everyone else knew she would be a natural at rugby and she just needed a chance to discover it herself.
“Everyone watching her come up through athletics and touch thought rugby sevens would be her game. A secondary school tournament came up in Auckland when she was at Mt Albert Grammar and a rugby coach coerced her into playing.
“When I asked her how the tournament was going, her words were: “I’m never playing non-contact again – I love this game!”.
The family moved to Richmond and last year Sienna began playing for the Waimea Old Boys under-15 girls’ team, and the same year was named the Tasman Rugby Union’s most promising player award. She went on to represent Tasman Māori Rugby.
This year, she moved up to the Waimea Old Boys under-18 women’s team, represented the Tasman Mako under-18 women’s squad and played for the Tasman Māori under-15 women’s squad. She then became one of two young women from the Top of the South to be selected to represent Matatū at the Global Youth 7s Tournament in Auckland where she will compete against some of the best young players in the world. Her fellow Tasman representative is Tayla Richards from Motueka.
Since February, Sienna has been training with the Mako academy every week, a demanding step up for the 15-year-old.
“It’s a good environment because you train with the older women and they’re at such a serious level.”
Her rugby achievements follow on the heels of a standout year in touch rugby, highlighted by her role in the U16 mixed team that claimed gold at the New Zealand Touch Nationals in Auckland.
In athletics, she is both a sprinter and thrower. In March, she set new Tasman Secondary Schools’ records in the girls under-15 discus and shotput. Then the following month threw the discus even further to reach 39.47m at the South Island Secondary Schools competition for another record. She has set several track and field in Auckland in previous years.
The pharmacy has awarded scholarships for the past 17 years and Andrew McGlashen says choosing a recipient is always challenging.
“There’s a huge amount of talent across a wide range and it’s always nice to see the kids do so well.”
