Sporting life:
Former Silver Fern Courtney Tairi will be in Buenos Aires for the Youth Olympics as a Sky Sport presenter. She tells Sarah Nealon why she has put her netball career on hold for now.
Following Kiwi teens at the Youth Olympic Games.
The Youth Olympic Games might not be as well known as the summer or winter Olympics but, for sports fans, it’s a good chance to see some of the world’s most promising young athletes.
Held at Buenos Aires, around 4000 athletes from 206 countries are expected to attend with New Zealand sending a 61-strong team.
Sky Sport has secured the rights to the Games and Prime will screen a highlights show.
Courtney Tairi, who presents The Kiwi League Show with Monty Betham and has experience in presenting tennis and netball television coverage, will be in Buenos Aires for the Games.
She will front a daily highlights programme which covers key events and includes interviews with Kiwi competitors.
Tairi, 30, comes from a sporting background having played netball for the New South Wales Swifts, the Southern Steel and the Silver Ferns. The mid-courter was born in Australia to New Zealand parents and shifted from Sydney to Invercargill when she joined the Steel in 2012.
Currently, netball is taking a back seat to her television duties. “This is my first year not playing,” says Tairi, who keeps fit with gym workouts and dance classes. “I just wasn’t sure whether I wanted to play again and then Sky were quite serious about giving me more and more work so it’s just been the right time to have a bit of a transition. I had both my knees reconstructed, and my achilles, so my body was pretty thankful that I decided to give it a rest.” So will she resume her netball career? “I’m really enjoying where I am now to be honest,” says Tairi. “I still get to go to the games and present and do some commentary. I still get to be around and support my friends but I don’t have to run around. I still love that I am involved in the game in some capacity.”