Pictures: Maree Wilkinson.
Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio faced a crossroads – either leave Wellington or walk away from her successful netball career.
In the end, the choice was clear. She, her husband Damien and their two children, Ocean, eight, and Luna, three, left the capital to move to Tauranga to be closer to her Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic team.
“We decided that it was time to change,” says Ameliaranne, 34, who’s now leading the Magic for a third ANZ Premiership season. “Well, it wasn’t really ‘we’ – it was definitely more me!”
For the past three years, the standout shooter had been commuting from Wellington every week during the premiership season – a routine that was “absolutely exhausting”.
“My kids are getting older and it was getting harder to spend so much time away from them on top of the demands as a professional athlete,” she explains. “I figured it was time to either stop playing and just be at home with my family or we moved as a family up here.
“When the opportunity came to get a house in Papamoa for the season, we decided to try to make it work and it’s been the best decision. We’re living a really simple life up here.”
Ameliaranne doesn’t miss the chaos of her old routine, with games and trainings scattered unpredictably throughout her schedule.
“It was never the same every week,” she tells. “I’d fly to Tauranga, stay for two or three nights for trainings and meetings. Then I’d be home for one or two days, then I’d fly to wherever in the country we were playing. My brain was working in overdrive the whole time.”
Then there were the sacrifices – missing out on precious moments with Ocean and Luna.
“I’m now realising our time together as a family is something you can never get back,” says Ameliaranne. “It’s coming up to the 10th anniversary of my mum passing away. I’m really grateful for all the time we had together. I want to gift that time to my kids too.”
Ameliaranne has been fortunate to have incredible family support during this hectic stage of her netball career. Especially from Damien’s mum Fay, who they lived with in Wellington while they renovated their home.
“We just needed so much support with what I do and with what my husband does. So, it made sense for the kids to have their nana in the same house,” she tells. “We couldn’t have done it without her.
“Since we’ve moved north, Fay has flown up to stay with us. We all really miss her and vice versa. This is a different kind of sacrifice.”
The most challenging part of the move, Ameliaranne says, has been ensuring Damien could stay in his role as general manager of Capital Basketball.
“He’s been there six years and they’ve been really supportive of his move. When we explained we wanted to do this as a family, they allowed him to working remotely. That comes with its own challenges, but he travels down once a month for a couple of days to catch up with colleagues, so it’s a bit of role reversal for us!”
The family is relishing their new surroundings in the beachside Tauranga suburb of Papamoa. Many of Ameliaranne’s Magic teammates live there too. It’s not far from their training base at Mount Maunganui and just a short walk to the beach.
“It’s definitely a different lifestyle to Wellington and it feels pretty similar to where I grew up in Queensland,” says Ameliaranne. She was born in Bundaberg but has Ngāti Kahu and Ngāpuhi heritage, moving back to Aotearoa in 2014.
“It’s been a nice reminder of living somewhere where you can sleep with your windows open and go to the beach every day the sun’s out,” she enthuses. “I don’t think I’ll stop swimming in the sea, even in winter. It’s a real feeling of home for me.”
Ocean rides his bike or scooter to the nearby school, while Luna’s daycare is just down the street. Following in the footsteps of his dad, who played for the Wellington Saints in the NBL, Ocean has also taken up basketball.
“It’s a great time for Ocean and his dad to bond,” smiles Ameliaranne. “We haven’t pushed him into sport, but there’s been a lot more opportunities since we moved up here. Hopefully we’ll see him blossom.”
She admits she has been weighing up whether to keep playing her own sport over the past few years.
“That’s the reality of where my career is now – it’s definitely coming to an end,” she admits. “I can’t put my body through too much more.”
Yet if you looked at her shooting stats and watched her relentless work rate last season, you’d never guess her days on the court were numbered.
Last year, she was named the ANZ Premiership’s top player, winning the prestigious Casey Kopua MVP Award. She puts part of that down to her new philosophy.
“Mentally, I took a really different approach last season,” she says. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to play for the Silver Ferns again. I thought I was done internationally, so that really took the pressure off me.
“I’d realised it was more important to create an environment where my team was really happy, had a deep sense of self-belief and enjoyment, and wanted to be part of it all. We stress so much about perfect individual performances, but I think the change really worked for us. It definitely worked for me.”
Ameliaranne also led the Silver Ferns to a historic victory over the Australian Diamonds to reclaim the Constellation Cup last year. With this year’s ANZ Premiership condensed down from three rounds to two, Ameliaranne says there’s no time for the Magic to ease their way into the season.
“You can’t afford to drop a game – every single match matters – so there’s been a change in mental approach for us all.”
She’s enthusiastic about the other competition change this year – the two-point shot, which comes into play in the final five minutes of every quarter.
She grins, “It’s totally opened up the court and will change the game. We’ve got multiple shooters who can shoot from long range. We’re not relying on a tall shooter to just bang it in to win.
“It’s really exciting how two points can totally change the scoreboard. I love having a different personal challenge this season. I’ve always enjoyed shooting from a distance and now the reward is greater.”
Ameliaranne says she’s still open to playing for and leading the Silver Ferns, but it’s no longer the be-all and end-all.
“My body and my mind will tell me when it’s time to retire. But last year, I finished the season in the healthiest state I’ve been in for a long time.”
Ameliaranne is acutely aware of the stresses a professional athlete faces. She’s taken short breaks from the game in the past, most recently missing the Nations Cup in England in 2024.
“The demands aren’t just physical but mental as well and now there’s a big social component to it,” she says. “You’re visible and accessible 24/7 now. It’s a tough job as an athlete nowadays, but I never forget it’s also a privilege.”
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