Bullying story gets wide exposure
He lives for rugby, an activity he nearly gave up because of bullying at school.
But, inspired by the movie
featuring his hero Richie McCaw, 11-year-old Adam Hobbs started to believe in himself again and returned to rugby.
Adam was also inspired to enter a competition to become the new face of Weet-Bix.
His face and his story feature on some of the 1.6 million boxes of Weet-Bix cereals distributed throughout the country ahead of popular children’s event the WeetBix Kids TRYathlon.
The photo shoot for the WeetBix competition was held in June and Adam’s family now has a year’s supply of the Sanitarium products.
The Weet-Bix competition was a confidence boost for the ‘‘rugby mad’’ year 7 Christchurch intermediate student who nearly gave up sport due to issues with bullying at school.
‘‘At the start of 2016, throughout that season, I just made excuses not to play,’’ he said.
‘‘I used to feel not so good about myself but then I watched Richie’s movie and saw he got into the All Blacks by believing in himself.’’
Last year Adam received three player of the day awards with his club side, Christchurch RFC, and made it into the Canterbury representative rugby team.
‘‘He has had his tough times [but] he learned to put all that aside,’’ said Adam’s mother, Natasha Hobbs.
Sanitarium sponsorship manager Nigel Chenery said Adam’s story was really special.
‘‘He was suffering from a lack of confidence but going to see
really inspired him to get back up and try again.
‘‘That’s what the Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon is all about – encouraging kids to give it a go and helping them to believe in themselves.’’
Adam will compete in his fourth triathlon in Christchurch on February 25.
The Weet-Bix Kids TRYathlon takes place in locations all over the country until April.