Kneeboard novice bit of a late bloomer

Waitara's Josephine Moore says she was shocked to win the Taranaki Maori Sportsperson of the Year last month. Glenn McLean finds out the story behind her success.

It's hard to imagine anyone being half an hour late to compete in their first world final.

But that's what happened to Taranaki Maori Sportsperson of the Year, Josephine Moore, who wasn't just late, she missed two-thirds of the open women's world championship kneeboard final.

Moore, 27, was just having one of those mornings that strike mothers of young children.

In the end, it mattered little.

Moore, with the aid of a band of supporters who helped get her board ready at the shoreline, managed to zip up her wetsuit in time to hit the water and catch the waves she needed to beat three other finalists.

Not bad. Better still, when you consider she was a virtual kneeboarding novice and decided to give the competition a crack only at the request of organiser Murray Weir.

She was, however, confident of doing well after years of training on paddle boards during her extensive surf lifesaving career.

Moore's passion for the surf started from childhood as she grew up on the shores of Muriwai Beach, west of Auckland, with her two sisters.

"We used to have the local shop there, so we got chucked into surf club when we were about six or seven and [we] used do lots of surf club stuff," she said.

"We did all the competitive stuff, it was just part of being at the beach."

Her passion for surfing led her to Newquay, in Cornwall, England, where she landed a job as an instructor for two summers during her OE.

During a visit home to renew her visa, Moore competed at the Maori national surf competition where she met her partner, Jamie "Chip" Andrews. Her return to New Zealand also prompted Moore to compete in the national longboard tour, finishing second. Another season in Newquay was followed by an offer from Andrews to move down to the famed shores of Taranaki where the couple had their first child, Olive, now two.

Motherhood saw Moore take a break from competitive surfing, although she returned to the waves with renewed vigour when Weir's invitation came in April, as Opunake prepared to host the world kneeboard championships.

"Because it was in New Zealand I didn't need to have qualified overseas first," she said. "I borrowed a board and did my first surf down there when I did my first heat. I'd done a lot of kneeboarding on a paddle board, so I thought it can't be that much different."

Moore said she worked off the same formula she had while competing in numerous longboard competitions.

"You know what the judges expect of you and what you are supposed to do. It's just about going out there and doing it."

The 8am start for the final almost proved a bridge too far for Moore though, who said everyone was yelling at her to "hurry up" as she raced towards the water.

`I just did my best to catch two good waves. I'd prepared myself on the car ride down what I was going to do.

"Once I caught my first wave I thought, whew, then paddled straight back out there to catch another one."

Like someone blessed, Moore was then rewarded with another good set of waves and she reached shore happy with what she had achieved.

There was no time to dwell on her efforts, though, as she packed up the car and headed for the University Games further around the coast, where she finished second in the open women's shortboard and longboard divisions.

Two days later she was crowned world champion at the kneeboard prizegiving.

Six months on Moore is facing another break from the sport – she is pregnant with her second child.

In the meantime, Moore said she was meeting more "new cousins" around Waitara. Family ties, it seems, are still strong in Taranaki, despite her father, Bill, being shifted north when he was just five.

It was that separation from the province that saw her enter the Taranaki Maori Sports Awards without any idea what to expect.

"I thought it would be a lot of rugby, league and netball. While there was, it was neat to see a lot of different sports nominated and be named finalists," she said.

Post second child, Moore has set a long term goal of competing in the Noosa Longboard Festival in March, 2011.

- © Fairfax NZ News