Maggie Manson’s Gym Dedication Boosts Basketball Performance

• Maggie Manson’s gym work enhances her performance in senior competitions and national tournaments.
• Playing for Southland Storm and Otago, Manson adapted quickly to new team dynamics.
• Next challenges include South Island secondary schools event and HoopNation tournament.

Time in the gym has been rewarding for Southland basketballer Maggie Manson. The Central Southland College head girl and Academy Southland leadership athlete has had a busy month playing for the Southland Storm in the TUPU League and Otago at the national under-18 championships.

Competing in the senior league with the Storm was a tough physical challenge, something Manson prepared for at the Mike Piper Training Centre with Academy strength and conditioning coach Josie McKerchar. “If I wasn’t in the Academy and wasn’t going to the gym I would have struggled because the physicality was crazy. Josie just sets everything up for me and I’ve worked on my arms and legs and core so that I can hold my ground,” she said.

“It was really cool. It was awesome playing with the women from here and against ex-Tall Ferns and players like that. The physicality was crazy; they are so strong. I didn’t have to worry about doing anything else (on court); I could just do my job – getting rebounds, setting screens, and things like that.”

The new TUPU League, which replaced the D League competition, saw the Storm achieve a midtable finish in Tauranga. They finished seventh after a final day win over Taranaki, a team they had previously lost to.

Manson then competed in the national under-18 tournament in Wellington, quickly integrating with her Otago teammates. “Southland didn’t have a team, so it was good to get to know those girls. We hadn’t played together, but we got used to each other quickly and figured out how each other played. We played Counties on the first day and lost to them, and then we played them on the last day and beat them by like 20 points.”

The Otago team faced a challenging pool, finishing in a three-way tie for second place with Counties and Taranaki. They finished ninth overall, narrowly losing to Tauranga, who finished second in the tournament.

With her focus shifting to netball, Manson’s next basketball challenges include the South Island secondary schools event in September and her second appearance at the HoopNation event in Tauranga in October.