Her brother has made a name for himself in NZ Sevens and now Black Fern Stacey Waaka has also been called up.
The 19-year-old Ngāi Tūhoe descendant has been impressive in the 15s black jersey and recently receiving her first call-up to the NZ Sevens.
“I've always wanted to play sevens in the black jersey just to get my first opportunity next week, it's exciting.”
She's following in the footsteps of her brother, Beaudein Waaka, who represented the men's NZ Sevens team. She says, “He always gives me pointers, tells me my strengths and weaknesses and obviously as a younger sibling I look up to him so yeah I take everything on board.”
Stacey had a stellar season for Waikato and narrowly missed out on the final. Now she is focussed on playing a sevens style of rugby.
“I have originally been picked for centre however due to injuries and stuff next week, I have been asked to play of the wing also so just adapting to both positions should be interesting,” says Waaka.
Her first game will be at the 2015 UON Central Coast Sevens in Australia over Labour Weekend.