Rugby: Kendra Cocksedge reflects on overcoming hurdles in earliest days on rugby pitch

Kendra Cocksedge has had a decorated rugby career. Photo / Photosport

Overcoming hurdles is nothing new for Kendra Cocksedge.

Cocksedge first got involved in the game at four years old and, in her early days in the game, she was often the focal point of plenty of unwanted attention.

Growing up in Okato, a small coastal township in Taranaki, Cocksedge played in a boys team. For the players, coaches and parents of the opposition, seeing a girl take the field wasn't always a welcome sight.

"I had coaches and players from the opposition saying 'you've got a girl in your team - she can't play', or parents from the other team. Most of them were pretty supportive, but some were not very nice about it," Cocksedge recalls.

But even as a young player growing up, she refused to let comments from others about her size and gender deter her from playing the game she loved. If that meant she had to play on a boys team, so be it. She was happy to do so, and the boys welcomed her involvement in the game.

"I'm really grateful for them, because they're probably the reason I stayed in the game when I reflect back now," she says. "I'm so grateful to have those boys who became my brothers."

Being able to fuel her love of the game at an early age and not be deterred by opinions of others, Cocksedge was able to let her talent silence those voices.

She had made Taranaki and Hurricanes secondary schools squads by the time she moved to Canterbury to study at Lincoln University in 2007, and made her debut for Canterbury that year.

Now, she is one of the country's greatest players, breaking barriers in 2018 as the first woman to be named New Zealand Rugby player of the year, and is preparing for her fourth Rugby World Cup later this year.

"I think it got to a point where I just held my own. When you're actually good and you show people you can do what is needed to play at international or provincial level, it ends up being OK and people accept it," she said.

While comments about her size largely stopped by the time she had made her debut for Canterbury, Cocksedge said there would still often be times when someone would recognise her in the street and make comments on how small she was.

"Even until recently, I'd be walking down the street and someone would say 'Oh, you're a lot smaller than I thought. You look bigger on TV. Surely you're too small to play rugby' - just a side comment like that," she said.

Overcoming plenty of barriers throughout her time in the game, Cocksedge and her Black Ferns teammates are hoping to inspire Kiwis not to let their own mental and physical barriers get the better of them, with a recent study commissioned by Rexona finding more than 50 per cent of New Zealanders are not meeting the Ministry of Health movement recommendation of two-and-a-half hours per week.

Among the common responses, feeling self-conscious, not having someone to exercise with, motivation and lack of time were identified as factors stopping people from moving. The team has partnered with the brand for their Not Done Yet movement, sharing their own stories of breaking through similar barriers.

"I know all too well, what it feels like to have that voice of self-doubt in your head, and what it feels like to be told you can't do something," Cocksedge said.

"It saddens me that people aren't doing it because they're self-conscious or don't have anyone to do it with, or worried about body image and what people think of them.

"Everyone is so time-poor now because of the way we're living. It's so busy with work and whatnot, so routine is massive. You've got to plug it in there. I don't think anything is more important than going for a walk, even if you're 10 minutes late for work.

"These days, if your boss is at you for being 10 minutes late because you went for a walk, that saddens me. If that's the only time you can fit it in, you have to allow that.

"The main advice is you just have to focus on yourself. Put yourself and your needs first."