Ria Ahearn: Events organiser devoted to the health and fitness of young people

March 31st, 2011
By David Armstrong

As Events Coordinator working out of the Recreation Centre, Ria Ahearn is fast becoming a well-known institution around Motueka's community events calendar, which is quite a step up from the quiet "country girl" she was when she started at Motueka High School about nine years ago.

Ria credits the example set by many of the school's "excellent" teachers whose tuition and guidance set her on a path to being a great role model herself for the town's children and youth.

Apart from a somewhat wasted year at Canterbury University, she has lived all her 23 years in Motueka as part of a close and supportive family who were among the early orchardists in the King Edward Street area. She attended Lower Moutere School, her parents preferring the more rural atmosphere for their children's education.

For someone so into sport now, Ria was not strongly sporty back then, just messing around with some netball and gymnastics. She says her first year at Motueka High School was also quiet and low key as she adjusted to the more townie environment.

"Then in the fourth form (Year 10) I got into the naughty stage, testing the boundaries," she says. But her latent leadership skills began to emerge in fifth form when she was elected by her peers to the School Council. This was repeated in her two subsequent years.

"I became passionate about students getting what they deserve, and things being right," she says. In seventh form she became chairperson of the School Council, as her growing leadership skills began to become apparent. She was also a seventh-form mentor to younger students and took on other student body roles, including choreography for Stage Challenge and World of Wearable Arts.

Sport began to figure more strongly also, and she became more involved in netball, touch and hip-hop dance. But it was still more for enjoyment more than competitive striving.

By seventh form, though, the drive to do well and to find and realise her potential began to develop. Academically she excelled in graphic design, physical education and information technology, providing a great mix that has led her to an interesting, broad career path.

"I always made sure I worked so that I passed with merit or excellence. I was never satisfied with 'Achieved'." She appreciated the efforts and help of an excellent group of teachers, in particular Rex Smith in Biology and Todd Adams in PE. "They both helped my passion for these subjects to grow."

At this point, however, she received some advice that didn't work for her - that to succeed in anything she would have to go to university and get a degree. At 17, she enrolled for a BA degree at Canterbury, aiming to be a teacher.

"I found university interesting. Coming from Motueka where the high school had 600 students to going to a university and having 400 students in your lecture, I found was quite overwhelming," she says. "Your lecturer didn't know you from a bar of soap; they didn't care.

"I did do well, with A-plus in education and a letter asking me to stay on, but I didn't like Christchurch. I found it strange to walk down the street and say hi to someone and for them to look at you and, like, are you crazy? I was out of my comfort zone, but in saying that, I did learn a lot of life skills that year, getting around the city and finding my way. And luckily my brother was in Christchurch and was able to help."

She went home for the Christmas and decided that she didn't want to go back. Her parents agreed with her request, "on the condition that I got a degree elsewhere". A career advisor in Nelson straight away got her enrolled in an NMIT course for a Bachelor of Sport and Recreation. "I quickly realised that to be successful you don't need to go to university, and there are other options out there."

Commuting daily between Motueka and Nelson for three years was a "bit of a struggle" but she had a great car-pool buddy with whom she was able to wind down after a busy day. After two years she gained the Diploma of Applied Fitness and in the third year got her degree through an Auckland University-accredited course.

During her time at NMIT she still had teaching in mind, and during her final year she did a project at Motueka High's PE department researching physical activity participation levels, finding out why some of the kids did not participate in sports and related activities. "It was an amazing opportunity that while I was developing useful resources for the school I was able to step into an actual teacher's role."

After graduating in February 2010 she got a job with Lisa Martin at Motueka Floral Studio, where she learned some further skills, this time on her creative side. "I absolutely loved working there, and learned heaps."

Then the position of Events Coordinator came up at the Recreation Centre. This was closer to Ria's field of training and would open up other opportunities, so Ria applied and was appointed. She began work in May last year. She has also taken on looking after the physical exercise side of the children's MEND programme. "Working on MEND has re-sparked my passion for teaching," she says. "Because it's a younger age group, I can be quite influential with them."

Her events management role keeps her busy organising a wide range of community events such as Christmas in the Park, the Teddy Bears' Picnic and last week's KidsFest. The growing expertise, she says, means the Recreation Centre will increasingly be contracted to manage events for other community groups and committees.

Outside of work, Ria is also doing physio work with the Riwaka Rugby Club for the B team, which is a good use of the injury prevention management skills she has learnt.

Ria no longer lives at the family home. She met her partner, forestry worker Tyrone, when she was 18 and three years later they bought a house together in Motueka. He suffered a bad injury four months ago and Ria is helping with his recovery and physiotherapy. "We're working through those challenges," she says.

Ria still has a broad range of options for her career, but whatever specific direction she chooses she's confident the example set for her by her high school teachers will remain influential. "I'm not sure if it will be at a teaching level or some other avenue, but I've seen how influential good teachers can be and I would like to be influential myself with young people."

And she's confident it will be in Motueka. "I'm kept here by the people that come through the Recreation Centre and the Motueka community. I'd prefer to live and work here even if I was offered more pay to do similar things elsewhere."

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