Evan Williams recounts the journey that has led to his selection to the NZ Squash team for the Commonwealth Games.
“This is years and years in the making, I came from the whole junior scene, representing NZ in the juniors and then in the seniors, and went away for the doubles” says the descendant from Ngāti Porou.
Te Kaea first interviewed the former junior representative in 2006,
and since then we have watched him progress, to achieve this life-time goal of his.
“Any chance we get to represent our country is the highest honour, to be able to play the game we love day in and day out, and to get selected to play on the world stage is unbelievable really, were not in the Olympics so the Commonwealth Games is the biggest of the big we can play, so being involved in that is really humbling and a massive honour”
He nearly made the team four years ago, but to no avail, a small set back cost him another four years.
“I actually missed the last Commonwealth Games as I had wrist surgery one month before the team went away, so that was pretty tough not being able to go there”
He's made the squad now and they have high hopes for the Gold Coast games.
“We want to win medals, to think that this team could be the most successful team ever and to be able to add to that tally will be unbelievable”
Williams has plans to compete locally in preparation for the team's departure in April.