BLACK FERNS CAPTAIN SETS THE STANDARDS ON AND OFF THE FIELD
by PETER WHITE
Lesley Elder has more than one passion. She wants to win rugby games for her country, but she also wants the next generation of young women to be better people. “I work in a space where I mentor and guide young female athletes aged 18 to 22 who have aspirations to succeed in rugby,” says the Black Ferns captain.
made some really good gains leading into the Farah Palmer Cup (FPC). The girls have gone away from the Black Ferns to focus solely on FPC and we will be catching up again towards the end of the competition.”
“A lot of these girls are dealing with lots of things in life. It is on the rugby field where actually they feel safest and where they express themselves.
Elder took time off rugby last year to have her first baby, a beautiful daughter.
“Over the years I have been able to see what the game of rugby does for these young people. I use that as a catalyst to continue to empower them to become more than just a rugby player, through the learnings from the game – like teamwork, dealing with pressure and setbacks, and resilience.” A major milestone in the women’s game this year was the debut Super Rugby women’s match played between the Blues and the Chiefs. Elder says the Black Ferns players need that higher quality of rugby to get better as a team. “That game was a similar level of intensity as the Black Ferns playing Australia. It was a huge stepping stone and another layer that is crucial to the game’s growth and on-going development. “My big push is that we do it properly, so it is meaningful and really valuable for our women.” Elder made her Black Ferns debut as an athletic flanker in 2015 and became captain in 2019. She is a natural leader of the Volcanix, the Chiefs and Black Ferns. Her style of calm leadership, including making sure every single player in the group feels important, is fundamental to her success as a captain. With the Black Ferns set to play at home in next year’s Rugby World Cup, there will be added pressure on the team to perform. Elder says the group is progressing well to where they need to be.
She is full of praise for the work done by the New Zealand Rugby Players Association and New Zealand Rugby to support mothers and their babies while maintaining the needs of the squad. It is a portent to the future and how players can feel comfortable with how the system works to support them. “I was really fortunate the Parental Leave policy came in place, so I was lucky I was able to get the full support of the Black Ferns and my provincial union. “There is still a huge area to learn and grow in that space. Obviously there have only been a few of us that have had children in the Black Ferns and returned to high-performance rugby. “The fact there is a policy in place to support us to have a baby while playing rugby is great and we are pretty fortunate.”
LESLEY ELDER (NÉE KETU)
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PLACE OF BIRTH: TAUMARUNUI DATE OF BIRTH: 10 JANUARY 1987 HEIGHT: 1.66m
AGE: 34
WEIGHT: 62kg
POSITION: LOOSE FORWARD PROVINCE: BAY OF PLENTY VOLCANIX
“After some hard conversations as a leadership group and setting some clear objectives in terms of what we want to achieve, we are making some really good progression.
SUPER RUGBY: CHIEFS
“Obviously COVID-19 has thrown a spanner for everyone in life, so we have had to deal with that. At times that has set us back a little. We have
BLACK FERN TESTS: 18 BLACK FERN POINTS: 10
BLACK FERNS DEBUT: v CANADA IN CALGARY, 27 JUNE 2015
CARLA HOHEPA, LESLEY ELDER (CAPTAIN), AYESHA LETI-I’IGA and KENDRA COCKSEDGE celebrate winning the Laurie O’Reilly Memorial Trophy after their victory over Australia at Eden Park on Saturday 17 August 2019.
18 | RUGBY 2021
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