Family big factor in success of NZDF Sportsperson of the Year
New Zealand Defence Force Sportsperson of the Year Hayley Hutana puts much of her sporting success down to supportive parents and kicking a ball around the backyard in Feilding with her older brothers.
Leading Aircraftman Hutana, 23, joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) three years ago, after taking a year off following her graduation from Feilding High School to concentrate on rugby sevens — she was contracted to the New Zealand women’s rugby sevens team for two years from the age of 17.
She currently plays sevens for the RNZAF, NZDF and Manawatu, which won the 2018 national title, and played 15-a-side rugby in the Farah Palmer Cup national competition for the Tasman Makos. She was named women’s player of the year for Marlborough club rugby.
Leading Aircraftman Hutana, who works at RNZAF Base Woodbourne, also plays touch rugby but her sporting talents are not confined to the oval ball — she also excels at basketball, volleyball and athletics, and at school was a provincial representative in these codes, as well as rugby, sevens and touch.
It meant a busy life for parents Sue and Stu Hutana, who still live in Feilding.
“My parents were always on the sideline, and they still are when they are available to travel. Most places I go, they’ll be there to support.”
Brothers Nathan and Frazer, who both live in Manawatu, also played a big part in developing her sporting prowess, she said.
“We were always kicking the ball around in the backyard. It was always lots of fun, and at times competitive, and I guess they helped me to develop the love I have for sport.”
Her managers at Woodbourne were also extremely supportive of her sporting endeavours, she said. That had allowed her to participate in numerous tournaments throughout the year, at Woodbourne and further afield.
“So that has been a huge help and means a lot. Without their ongoing support, a lot of this would not have been possible for me.”
Leading Aircraftman Hutana’s partner, RNZAF physical training instructor Corporal Wairakau Greig, plays rugby sevens for the RNZAF and the Cook Islands, and coached the NZDF women’s team that won the Pacific Military Rugby Sevens tournament in Canberra in October.
The NZDF team beat the Australian Defence Force 14–12 in the final, with Leading Aircraftman Hutana kicking the winning conversion.
She said she was honoured and humbled to be named NZDF Sportsperson of the Year and, as a result, to be the sports nomination for the NZDF Person of the Year award.
“I still really can’t believe it. The NZDF has a large number of high-calibre athletes, and to be among them — I’m just feeling really grateful,” she said.
