Black Ferns lock Joanah Ngan-Woo is an inspiration for young New Zealanders on and off the field and she's breaking barriers as a Pasifika woman.
Wellington and Black Ferns lock Joanah Ngan-Woo. Photo: Photosport
The 24-year-old has had a big few years, making her Black Ferns debut, completing her Masters in International Relations and starting a new job at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Growing up in a rugby mad aiga Ngan-Woo was often around the sport, but she initially had no interest.
"I come from a big rugby family. They watched every game, but I was always in the other room watching movies."
Ngan-Woo would eventually tune in to rugby, picking up the game in her first year at St Catherine's College in Kilbirnie.
"The culture of the team really attracted me and then I really loved the contact aspect of rugby. Every other rugby team I've been in I've loved the culture and the sisterhood."
Ngan-Woo went against the grain for someone slight of frame, moving from the backs to the forwards, where she now plays for the Black Ferns.
"I was actually a winger at St Cath's because I was so small. Then I got tall but I was still light and I ended up being the only one who could be lifted so they moved me to lock."
While the Wellington lock's eyes are firmly on making next year's World Cup in Aotearoa and helping the Black Ferns defend their title, she's also jumped into a new challenge off the field.
After finishing her Masters in International Relations in 2018 and working for NZQA, she's taken a job at the Department of Prime minister and Cabinet.
"I've always been interested in the history of different countries, particularly in the Pacific, and I also love to travel. So, international relations was sort of an easy pick to do my Masters in. I stumbled across this job and I just wanted to challenge myself and break the mould; I got told I was the only Pasifika person coming into this division."
Inspiring the Pasifika community is a big part of Ngan-Woo's motivation to succeed and she is proud of her Samoan heritage.
"We try to go back to Samoa every chance we get to experience the culture and the life in Samoa which I really hold dear to me." Born in Wellington, Ngan-Woo's family hails from the village of Salelologa in Savai'i.
"A lot of my teams also have a really strong Pacific side which adds to the family culture which I relate to."
Also of Chinese descent, Ngan-Woo can relate to those who fell disconnected from their culture.
"My dad's side is Chinese and my parents went to visit China last year to try and find our roots back there, but we could only find the province we were from and we don't have a very strong knowledge and sense of our Chinese side. We'd like to change that."
Ngan-Woo and her jiāting (family) have been doing their best to discover their Chinese history and she said her palagi grandmother was a role model for embracing the cultures that were part of her world.
"My grandma is full Pākehā, but she can actually speak Samoan better than we can."
Ngan-Woo's grandparents were her inspiration in many facets of life.
"My grandpa on my mum's side, he just retired at 70 years old as a kitchen hand. We used to pick him up at 8:30pm from work every day. He was a big example to me about work ethic, never giving up and providing for your family.
That work ethic is needed, with Ngan-Woo training early in the morning before going to her fulltime job and training again in the evening.
She believes she was well prepared by her high school routine.
"My schedule would be like 6am training for water polo, then netball training, then a rugby school game and then went to my rugby club game and then my water polo game. Very busy, but I guess it taught me a lot about time management. It didn't leave a lot of time to get into trouble, or do chores," she laughed.
For Ngan-Woo neither training nor work is a chore, as she continues to blaze a trail for Pasifika women both on and off the field.
