Keeping a healthy balance in all aspects of your life

Bula everyone,

My days are so crazy and I love it! I train 5 days a week in the mornings which totals 10hrs a week as well a teaching tennis 6 days a week which adds up to 36hrs a week. The rest of my days are split up for studying, resting, family/bf time, planning training programs, church and general errands. I am always reminding myself that no matter what life throws at me I have enough experience as a professional athlete to know that keeping a healthy balance is the key to success and productivity.

New responsibilities and new goals

Since my move back to Samoa in April 2017 I’ve been taking on these important roles in our tennis community and have had the privilege to work with and travel with our top tennis juniors to several countries. It isn’t like the 15 countries a year I would usually travel to as a Professional tennis player on tour but being tennis coach/player is an exciting challenge and I love every bit of it. The countries I travelled to as coach/player this past year included Fiji (Fiji Open & Pacific Junior Championship), New Zealand (Junior Tournaments & Open Tournament), Turkmenistan (Fed Cup), Tajikistan (Asia Games) Bahrain (Fed Cup) Vanuatu (Pacific Mini Games)

The highlight for 2017 was being Coach/Player of our Team Samoa Tennis Team at the Pacific Mini Games in Vanuatu. With a successful run from the team coming away with 2 Golds, 1 Silver & 1 Bronze. The highlight of 2018 for me so far was being part of history for Oceania Tennis making it the first in history for pacific tennis to move from group 2 to group 1 in the Federation cup having zero losses in our ties between group 2 Asian countries.

I’ve never been that type who likes to sleep a lot or be still for long. So this schedule suits me perfectly. I get to rest only when need to.

Do a job you love and it will never feel like work

I enjoy helping and sharing with others more about my knowledge of fitness, tennis and balance in life. I like keeping fit and I enjoy helping others along the way. I am head coach for our National Team Juniors and Elite Team. People usually question me and ask how do I do it, do I ever get to rest. I just laugh and say I enjoy it. This busy schedule helps me to keep active and on my toes. There’s a lot planning and physical work that goes on each day and the important thing I have to do in order to not burn out or not do my job properly is to keep that balance and know when its time to keep working or get a quick nap in. Whatever it may be, I truly believe good balance helps me accomplish so much in all of the roles I take on.

You can’t look after others if you don’t look after yourself

I just want to share with you the importance of balance whether you work 8hrs or 12hrs in an office. Getting enough sleep, nutrition, exercise and having an active social life are all very important. I challenge you all to get involved with a sport or make time to exercise before or after work or school and look after yourself first before helping others so you can feel good and give more to others.

Stef x x