From rugby to residences: our next generation of youth workers

We have more than 1,000 kaimahi working in secure youth residences across the motu.

They come from a range of backgrounds, bringing a diversity of skills and experiences to the job. 

One common background is sport. Sport has provided a meaningful pathway into this line of work for many kaimahi — whether they had a coach inspiring them to work with youth or a former teammate suggesting they give the job a go.

And, in turn, they use sport to connect with and inspire the young people in residences.

Pauly Davis is the Manager Residence Operations at Te Maioha Youth Justice Residence.

Pauly knows what a positive influence sport can be in a young person’s life.

He admits he got into a lot of trouble as a teenager and says his touch rugby coach helped him change his path.

That coach was Leland Ruwhiu – then a social worker, and now the Lead Advisor for Māori Practice in the Chief Social Worker’s office at Oranga Tamariki.

“I always said if I could be somewhat of a Pa Leland for another kid, I’d be pretty happy with myself,” says Pauly.

And it’s safe to say he has.

After leaving the military in 2017, Pauly became a youth worker. He says his background in sport equipped him well for the role, especially when it came to teamwork.

Pauly played every sport involving a rugby ball as a youngster, eventually settling on touch rugby, and representing New Zealand at two world cups.

Rugby in residences

And Pauly still plays sport at Te Maioha, often chucking a ball around with the young people.

“They love playing sport. Some of them have two left feet and two right hands but they’re out there doing it. If we took sport out of residences, it’d be a tough job,” he says.

And Pauly is trying to get more sports people into residences, as well.

He runs recruitment at Te Maioha and often goes down to the rugby club to hunt out players nearing retirement.

“We will try and support our rugby players for the last few years of their career so we can get a good youth worker, a potential team leader.”

Leni Apisai is a Residential Youth Worker at Epuni Care and Protection Residence.

Leni describes his rugby-self as a bit of a wildcat, having bounced around the country playing for different super rugby teams.

He started with the Hurricanes in 2015 (who he still supports), played a couple of seasons with the Blues and then shot over to Japan to join the Sunwolves.

After coming home during the Covid-19 pandemic, Leni moved around a bit more. He played for the Blues, the Hurricanes and the Highlanders, before retiring in 2023.

He’d been thinking about transitioning out of the rugby life when he bumped into his old teammate Blade Thomson – a Team Leader at Epuni, who recommended a job at the youth residence.

Leni still gets to play a bit of sport at Epuni with the young people.

“It’s the icebreaker to get them to sort of drop their walls a bit and be vulnerable to talk to," he says.

Leni even got to return to professional play in 2024 when he responded to a call from the Wellington Lions and helped them win the National Provincial Championships.

Recruiting

Just as Blade recruited him, Leni is actively recommending youth work as a second career to his former teammates.

“I’ve tried to get the whole team in, really. There’s a lot of transferable stuff from professional footy that you can bring over, but I do tell them that this job isn’t for everyone.

“There’s a lot of highs but there are also a lot of lows. It’s about being able to ride that wave,” he says.

And Leni believes the experience that comes with playing professional sport puts them in a unique position to ride those waves.

Hisa Sasagi is a Residential Youth Worker at Puketai Care and Protection Residence.

Hisa started his rugby career in Otago before picking up a Hurricanes contract in 2016.

The following year he returned to Dunedin and took a job as a teacher’s assistant with Kingslea School, which delivers education to vulnerable tamariki and rangatahi.

Hisa played rugby for the next few years, for a club in London and with the Blues for the 2019 super rugby season.

When he returned to Otago and started a family, that put things into perspective.

“I had to really focus and think about what was going to happen after rugby,” he says.

Kingslea school offers education at Puketai, so Hisa had some experience with the care and protection residence. He was asked to do a few hours there and says the rest is history.

Transferrable skills

He believes rugby has prepared him to handle the pressure of youth work.

“I guess it’s the rugby background and always having to be on your game – at trainings, at games and off the field.”

Sport is a fixture at Puketai, and Hisa says he has seen some impressive athletes come through.

“I’m like, you’d make a great footy player, or you’d be an awesome basketball or netball player, you know. Some of them are really quite talented.”

Hisa wishes he’d known a bit more about youth work while he was playing professional rugby as it may have helped him to better prepare for the next step.

He’s currently coaching in Dunedin and tells his players to consider this type of work.

“I am sure in the next few years I will get a few of those boys rolling through,” he says.

Coaching them to not only be great players on the field, but potential youth workers off the field too.

We're celebrating more Oranga Tamariki sporting legends in the month of October. Keep an eye on our news section for the latest stories.

You can read about becoming a youth worker at Oranga Tamariki here