The year 6 pupil from Nelson Park School made her debut last month for the six-member Hawke's Bay team that competed at the annual Halberg Junior Disability Games at St Peter's School and Porritt Stadium in Cambridge from April 22-24.
"I did everything but jumping," says Liv from her home in Clive, her spectacles failing to dull the sparkle in her eyes.
To be precise, she engaged in shot put, discus and 50m and 100m sprints.
"I go to have fun, that's the main thing. It's not about winning," says the youngster, who is the only runner using a walker so she's classed "non-classified".
No doubt, mother Marcia Nelson reveals, Liv found it a little overwhelming in her first appearance. But then who wouldn't in three days of competing?
On day one she swam in the 10m freestyle event, 25m backstroke and the breaststroke race over the same distance, as well as relay.
It was straight into the athletics events the next morning and equestrian followed in the afternoon for the battler, who has a wheelchair handy if exhaustion starts kicking in.
Even the wheelchair team events can be challenging because she realises some peers are more adept at them than her because they spend more time in the chairs.
On the final day, Liv was going to do the bike segment of the triathlon but rain put an end to that so she became a spectator.
The irony is her Bay team won the triathlon in the abbreviated swim/run segments, which Beatrix Wuts and Joseph Curry completed, respectively.
"I felt like I'd won," Liv says.
She did so many times over because before the Games ended she opted for rowing, finding herself alongside Olympian Brook Robertson, who is off to Rio with the New Zealand eight crew.
Taking stock, Liv thoroughly enjoyed shot put because "it was the first time I had a real go at it".
Besides, she has a good photo for the album of throwing the shot as her mother held her for stability while aunty, Tamera Nelson, took a photo.
"Next year I want to do golf," she says, wasting no time in flicking through the Games programme to see what possibilities take her fancy.
Despite the optimism in her attitude towards life, there are days when she has to resign herself to the fact that she doesn't have a choice but to become a spectator in daily rituals, especially at school.
"Sometimes I'm disappointed but I try to be involved and have fun. My friends try to include me in class [activities]," she says, as her mother reveals that during PE classes they try to adapt to make sure she is included.
"My friends take me to the park in the wheelchair at lunchtime."
Needless to say, the Games last month provided a platform where Liv interacted with motivated peers of her ilk.
"It's not everywhere that you find disabled people in your town," she says cheerfully.
It was special moment to find former Bay athlete Liam Melvin at the Games, albeit representing a different region.
"He moved to Wellington recently so I took his place [in the Bay team] so we call him traitor," she says with a laugh.
Born on Auckland's North Shore, Liv moved with her family to Gisborne for two years before arriving to settle in the Bay about this time last year because her mother's partner, Bart Leslie, hails from here.
The "spasticity" of muscles, mostly in her legs and arms, is a condition that increases muscle tone and stiffness, which can impede speech or movement.
"She uses an iPad because writing can be a challenge," says her mother.
"She needs a little help with dressing but she's becoming more independent."
Liv took to the pool as a baby but after a four-year break she opted for swimming lessons.
At age 6 she joined Riding for the Disabled, which explains why equestrian will give way to golf.
Liv belongs to the Napier Athletic Club, joining in October as its only disabled member.
The co-ordinator of the seven-member Bay team to the Halberg Games, Michelle McKelvie, of Napier, says they're always recruiting new members.
"It's such an awesome weekend so if there's anyone out there who wants to go make contact with us, we'll give them all the details," says McKelvie, who is competitor Kate's mother.
Olympian Sir Murray Halberg established the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation in 1963 with the aim of enhancing the lives of physically disabled New Zealanders through sport and recreation.
That entails, among other things, a team of disability sport advisers around the country connecting physically disabled young people to sport and recreation opportunities via schools, clubs and in their communities, as well as providing grants for adaptive sport equipment.
It also hosts the three-day national junior games in Cambridge for physically disabled and visually impaired 8 to 21-year-olds.
