Elite Sport Scholarship supports top athletes to balance sport and study

The 24 recipients have all represented New Zealand on the world stage in a diverse range of sports including alpine ski racing, touch rugby, BMX racing, canoe polo, football, rugby and more.

Along with financial support, Massey’s Academy of Sport provides these top athletes a range of benefits including assistance with time management and academic planning; free membership and access to all campus gyms in Auckland, Palmerston North or Wellington; help with physical conditioning, nutrition and sports psychology; and mental skills training webinars.

The majority of these athletes have completed their first year of study and are balancing elite sport while studying part-time.

Professional New Zealand tennis player Sasha Situe is mid-way through a Bachelor of Business through Massey majoring in finance.

Sasha first enrolled as a Massey distance student in 2024 when she moved to Australia to train with her coach at the home of the Australian Open, Melbourne Park.

In a typical year, professional tennis players are travelling 30-40 weeks to tournaments. Sasha says Massey’s flexibility makes it possible to fit study around the demands of playing.

“Last year I was heading to Thailand to play but I had exams, so I contacted Rohan from Sport Massey and said I was really stressed about sitting exams. He helped me to manage that and get an extension on the exam timing.”

Sasha says she has also taken full advantage of the mental skills training Massey offers through Exercise psychology lecturer and mental skills trainer Warrick Wood.

“I found what he was talking about super engaging and insightful. It helped me learn how to be more confident because in sport, especially with injuries, you can go through a lot of self-doubt. So that support really helped me manage those emotions.”

Fellow Elite Gold Scholarship recipient and Football Fern Kate Taylor has been studying towards a Bachelor of Health Science since 2022. She says this qualification is helping her achieve her dream of becoming a midwife.

Kate has just been named to play for the Football Ferns in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 Oceania Qualifiers Finals in New Zealand. She has been playing professional football since she was 17, and was first selected to play for the New Zealand Football Ferns in 2022. In 2025, she moved to France to play for the first division football club, FC Dijon.

“The main reason I chose to study through Massey was because I had heard really good things about how it supports students via distance as I’m living overseas and playing football in France. The added bonus of my study in health is that I can apply a lot of what I’m learning to my every day life, giving me more knowledge and tools to help me become a better athlete,” Kate says.

Kate says she balances study and sport by setting aside specific times of the day to study.

“Our team tends to train in the morning, so I do a lot of my work in the afternoons when my brain is still ready to go. When schedules change or I have assignments coming up, this is when scheduling and planning ahead becomes super important. The support I receive from the academy has been really helpful to manage schedule conflicts that occur while living in a different time zone.”

Check out the other Elite Gold Sport Scholarship recipients:

With flexible study options and multiple study locations, Massey has been recognised as Aotearoa New Zealand's first athlete-friendly university by High-Performance Sport New Zealand. The Academy of Sport aims to support emerging and high performance athletes to achieve their best academically and in their sporting career.