For this year and for all the past seasons, Helensville Rugby has been able to put together competitive teams at all levels. Despite having the reputation of an underdog, the team is always set for the juniors, men, and women players to enjoy the game. And everyone is Helensville seems to embrace this battling mentality.

We had the chance to meet Aleiscia Phillips, who is a player and member of the Helensville Rugby committee, and Andy Hill, who is the head coach of the women’s team. Being part of the team means a lot to them, and their full commitment goes further than just 80 minutes of rugby.

A family club with special links to the members

“I’ve grown up at the club, basically. It's very special to me. My parents got married there. So it's something I hold close to my heart”. You would only need a few seconds in the conversation with Aleiscia to understand what this team means to her. She has been playing with the women’s team for the last four years. Her coach Andy has a different story. First as a player, then as the female side coach of Helensville Rugby. One thing is sure, they both agree on the importance of this team on their lives: “Once you've been a part of Helensville rugby, that's a part of you” says Andy.

The women’s side of rugby in Helensville has been growing very fast in the last few years, becoming one of the best team in the Union. However, for Aleiscia and Andy, nothing is taken for granted and they are putting in work to “make sure there’s a pathway from a junior and female perspective”. They are looking to grow the sport and the culture in Helensville, specifically for the females, “making sure that there's opportunities for them that they would otherwise have to go elsewhere to find”.

In addition to being competitive, Helensville is a family-based rugby club. According to Andy Hill, the team is “a landmark, essentially, it's a place in everybody's ritual. It's an awesome place to be, regardless of whether you're a parent, a player, a spectator, a friend, …”.

Standing on the right of the picture, Andy is proud to coach this Helensville team. Aleiscia and her teammates are fine with the underdog mentality and keep working hard as a group.

An embraced underdog mentality

Everyone in Helensville has learned to embrace the team’s massive underdog mentality throughout the years. Having to raise above preconceived ideas is a fuel for Aleiscia and her team: “no one knew why Helensville was putting in a team, no one knows who we are or what we do, and we still manage to come through and make a mark”. People around the clubs are battlers, and year after year, the team shows up and hangs on as long as they have to thanks to the resilience, motivation and commitment that are key elements at Helensville. Andy also shares this huge sense of community that goes from the top down.

He feels grateful to belong to this club and considers “it's a privilege to be able to coach these women, because with that, they inspire those younger females specifically to be a part of rugby”. Transmission and tuakana teina is another big aspect of the culture in Helensville, as the focus is on the relationship and the knowledge transaction between the older generation and the younger generation. Andy can relate that “it's about using that as a vehicle to let these other girls see what's possible, what's achievable and where you can go just by being keen to play with some mates at your local club”.

This mindset, as a big collective effort, has generated a huge sense of pride, especially around the women’s team for being the premier attraction in Helensville at a high level of competition. Aleiscia can relate: “you can just feel the strength and the character when you walk onto those fields or walk into those club rooms”.

Success is never taken for granted

Aleiscia and Andy both share the same story when it comes to give an example of this team spirit. You could here their passion when they talk about this Harbour Tournament back in November 2022. Andy remembers that they were debating whether or not they were going to have a team. And the first game in that tournament was a “slap in the face” for Aleiscia and her teammates. However, they displayed a huge effort to “carry instead of being the underdogs” and got into the final that was “one of the hardest games of rugby that we've played”.

Andy can relate that nothing has been easy in this tournament, from the first loss to this final: “There was a girl who was getting married the following week. She couldn't play because she didn't want to hurt herself, and she begged me to put her boots on for the last game”.

 At the end of the game, Helensville scored a final try to win it all. Aleiscia recalls one particular photo: “The feeling of relief, satisfaction, pride, happiness, was just felt by everyone. And on this photo, you can see that the whole side-line is just, erupting, basically a firework of humans”. Andy to carry on: “It was probably the sweetest win of them all, because we'd almost beaten ourselves to an extent”.

At the end of the day, it is all about the commitment in Helensville Rugby. Andy ad Aleiscia are very proud to see some of their players flying overseas or joining Super Rugby Aupiki teams and keep inspiring the kids.

For the future, they both agree on the areas of focus: “we just want to look at that growth again on the senior side and recreate that partnership so there is a pathway not only for women, but for our college players”. And there’s no doubt that this team can achieve their goals if they keep embracing their hard-working mentality.