In Your Corner

I know who I would want in my corner if I was going into battle. Who would you have in your corner? 

Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui

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In the Ring with Trevor Shaler, episode four, In Your Corner. I'm going to go back to the beginning and talk a little bit more about my life moment, particularly around Peter Fitzgerald. You know, I told that story about coming into knocking on the door at my parents' house, telling the story about I had potential, and I was fortunate enough obviously to hear what he had to say, and that set my set things in motion for me around my direction, you know, what I wanted to do, uh, certainly from a sporting perspective. So boxing became my life. It became the the central piece of my identity. Even today, you know, people still refer to me as the boxer. Actually, Lynn Shaler, the upholsterer here in Palmerston North, I took my golf bag in to get the VIX, uh, to get the uh zip fixed. And uh somebody had had their zip fixed on their bag, so I thought, oh, why not? So I cruise in, take it in, and they said, Yep, no, no, no problem, we can fix that. And uh they said, What's your name? And I said, Oh, Trevor Shaler. And they go, Are you the boxer? And I had yep. And they go, Ah, so you're the boxer. And basically, you know, they have when they've had people come into the into the shop saying, Oh, are you related to the boxer, to Trevor Shaler? And it's funny because I used to have the same thing. You know, people used to say, Oh, so is uh Lynn Shaler. Are they related to you? And we are all related. So it's a little bit off topic in terms of in the corner, but it it's interesting how you know different people come into your life. And this is what in the corner is really about, is around who comes into your life when you least expect it. And often it's not until you look back and you go, far out, you know, that was that was pretty you know intense. Or, you know, I can't believe that happened. And really, when I when I think about Peter, and everything is centered on on what he did, the action that he took coming into the house, knocking on the door, those types of things. But there are a few others, you know, Peter's brother Martin was also one of the other coaches, but also Peter's mum and dad, Rungy Fitzgerald and uh Pat. And you know, I would go and stay with them when we had you know a big tournament coming up, I'd go and stay with them, and it it would be like doing a boxing camp. And in the sense that boxing camps weren't the thing that we were doing in New Zealand at the time, and here I was staying at Rungi and Pat's house in Cardiff Street, and you know, doing this intensive training, which was unheard of uh at the time. So, you know, so so I just really wanted to extend that further than just making it about Peter, even though that's where my story, that's where the narrative is. But when I unpack it a a bit further, you know, there's some really fascinating pieces here, if I do say so myself. So before I do that, I just want to touch on a couple of things uh about Peter and about how how he was such an amazing coach. I'd come to the gym, actually, if I if I start right at the beginning, footwork, you know, they used to drill footwork, basics, basics, footwork. You know, we generally turned up thinking that, you know, this is the boxing gym, we're gonna be straight into the hitting, you know, jab, you know, punches. But they were really grounded on footwork. The the rule of thumb was, you know, you've got to be able to move, you know, to move yourself out of trouble and into trouble. So um, and that became uh a feature of my my um my style. I was a mover. Others gave me a few other names, like chicken lickin', um chicken legs, because you know, it I was hard to catch, you know, but also I was a counterboxer, right? So anyway, I used to come into the gym, I used to really I was quite a real thinking boxer. I like to counterbox, I like to think about what the different shots were, and it was a real challenge, I I know for Peter because he he really had to work hard to try and stay ahead of me and and really explain different combinations and why we were doing different things because I wanted to break it, break it all down. And this one time in the gym, it was I I can't remember how how old I was. But anyway, Peter was something had come up. No, actually, no, not something had come up. I remember coming into the gym, Peter putting out his hand, shaking my hand, and I was thinking, oh, what's going on? And he goes, I I can't coach you anymore. And I said, Well, he said, I I can't coach you anymore. I've I've taken you as far as I can take you. You now need to go and find your next person or the somebody else that can take you to the next level. And I I was actually I was devastated by that. But it wasn't until um years later, looking back on just how unselfish that was, you know. Peter knew I had this talent, you know. You you wouldn't, you know, you you would think that you would hang on to them, go for the ride, but not Peter. Peter knew that you know he's done uh done what he could do, and that actually I needed to to go and do something else. I did go and do something else. I you know moved around a little bit. I went down to Nelson, lived in Nelson, and moved in with Galbraith family in Nelson. Uh I'd fought their son Dean Galbraith in the Nationals, and I think it was semi-finals as an intermediate. And I think Dean had only had like seven or eight fights, and I'd had like 60 something, you know, and I'm like the the man, and uh I I couldn't believe they were putting in the ring with me. I was I mean, I was that good. Funny. Anyway, he he it was a great fight, and he really put it to me. And it's one of those, you know, two or three fights in your career that you look back and go far out, you know, the these ones stand out. And certainly fighting Dean was one of those ones that stood out because he he he pushed me and made me have to dig deeper than I've had to go before. So, you know, that was really important. So, you know, Peter shakes hands, he sort of says, Look, you need to go and do some some other stuff, you need to find somebody else. And I I, you know, like I said, I was pretty ripped at the time, but on reflection, you know, he he wanted the best for me, and you know, I'm so thankful for that. 17, 19, well, 17 I was, and uh, I'd been to Australia with the New Zealand uh youth team. I'd been to a few other tournaments, and sixth form back then was uh internally assessed, and you had to, you know, be at school for the bulk of the time for for the assessment. The teacher said to me, Look, Trevor, I'm not sure why you're coming to school because you haven't been at school uh enough days to um get your sixth form certificate. And I was like, Oh well, that sounds good. I should leave school soon, I should get on with it. Um so I so yeah, so I was like, okay. And I spoke with Rungy Fitzgerald, Peter's dad, and they both said to me, look, don't leave school, just wait. We'll see, we'll we'll find you something. But because I I didn't know what I wanted to do. I had no, you know, I was happy going to school, I was happy with what I was doing from a boxing perspective, but you know, I didn't really have those career aspirations or or nothing jumped out at me to say, look, this is the direction you should be going. And I I wasn't certainly wasn't thinking I was university material at the time. So anyway, Rangi Fitzguru, who was uh co-martial for Rangi Tane here in uh Papayoya, he uh got me a scholarship through uh Maori Affairs back in the day. They had a Maori and Pacific uh cadet scheme where basically they were trying to brown up the public service. So they were offering, you know, these these cadet ships for you to start in administration. So I secured one and I had a choice. They said, look, you can either work in health or you can work in justice. And it was an easy decision because when every time I thought about justice, I thought it's an admin role, I'd be behind reception. One of my brothers or a cousin would come in and say, Oh, cuz, cuz it wasn't me. And I'd be stuck, I'd think, oh gosh, what would I, you know, what would I do? And so I thought, actually, justice system's not for me. I'm I'm gonna choose health. So I started at the uh health development unit as uh receptionist, and yeah, it was awesome, it was great times. Being on reception, you kind of had to know everyone. So did did wonders for my confidence, did wonders, you know, in terms of engaging with different people coming into reception. I mean, the hard part was you know, I wasn't earning very much money, actually. I think in total my salary at the time was probably just under 10,000. And my brothers thought it was a hell of a joke because I think they were getting more money on the benefit at the time. But I I I loved it. You know, I was at work, I was being able to to balance different things. So yeah, that I mean, so when you think about it, my my life story being about Peter actually goes it it extends further to you know that far know, you know, being able to be there more than just for sport. You know, they they actually helped, you know, get me started in in a career. Uh admittedly, I I didn't know if I wanted to I mean I wasn't planning to be a receptionist all my life, but again, it adds really well to my boxing story that or and to my career actually, that that's where I started. Uh I started on reception, you know, then I moved from reception into uh support officer for health protection, doing admin roles for you know the team that were doing meat sampling, water sampling, you know, that sort of stuff. Plus, I was still doing well with my boxing. And so I started getting lots of speaking engagements, you know, motivational speeches, going to talk to schools just about you know boxing and stuff. And yeah, I mean it yeah, it was it was a really nice, nice fit. So the the the moral of of this story I I suppose is I've talked about my life moment being Peter, but actually when I reflect on it, there are a whole range of you know things that fell into place. And there's a a saying that goes, When the student's ready, the teacher will turn up. And I know for me, I was lucky, and I'm not sure lucky is the right word, but I feel like I was lucky because I was I was the student, and to be the student, I needed to be open to opportunities. I need I needed to be manage ego, arrogance, I needed to be able to listen, I needed to be able to, you know, give give things a go. And yeah, so you know, my my career side started through Māori Affairs getting, you know, one of the last through on the cadet scheme to get more Mori into the public service. And actually I you know, and that's you know been such a big part of you know, it takes up a lot of my energy and time these days in terms of the the role that you know work work plays. Now the other you know the the other thing here is I've I've talked about the Fitzgerald Vano. But there's also a saying, you know, that coaches and teachers, you know, are the two sort of areas where they can they have the potential to do the most good, but they also have the potential to go the other way. And you know, we've talked about the New Zealand boxing scenario with uh the current national coach and his style and his way of working. You also, you know, if you've got kids or even yourself, you know, you can remember those teachers at school uh who had an impact on your life. And at Awatopu College, or actually at Monroe Intermediate, we had a young Maori teacher, his name was Blackie Tuhiariki, or otherwise known to our students as Mr. T. And he was a young not long out of teachers college, and oh he he was he was hugely inspirational, and you know, we we all well certainly my cohort all sort of gravitated towards Mr. T just because I think we could see ourselves, you know. We'd we'd sort of grown up with this idea that you know being Mori was being lazy, you know, and all those other stereotypes that went with it. Yet Blackie was uh really strong and confident in himself, beautiful speaker of Tyrell, uh his Mori knowledge, you know, and so it was it was awesome to have uh him as a teacher. I was also one of the uh students that uh was in Jim Booth's class. So again, if you don't know much about that story, do a Google search. I was one of his sports monitors. He he used to single out the two rap bags every at the beginning of the the year, and I'm not sure I was a rap bag, but you know, I certainly was on the spectrum in terms of you know wanting to show boat and play around and anyway I I I was a sports monitor and again I I enjoyed enjoyed the added responsibility, but there were certainly some issues there that that have come out more recently, but you know, I I certainly I can't remember. I I certainly wasn't affected, you know, so so big you know, adulha to all those students that that went through that process and who were affected at the time. When when I left intermediate and went on to Awatobu College, it just so happened that Blackie left Monreat Intermediate and came to Owatoba College. So we we ended up having him uh as our teacher for you know four or five more years, and his influence was significant. My my older brother, uh Paul, you know, 15, he wanted to leave school. School wasn't for him, you know. And you know, mum and dad's key message was whoops, yeah, round three. I'm not sure what that's because my phone's on, so that's a few ding dings. I'll um pick I'll be able to sort all that out once I get onto the editing one day, but I am gonna get onto the editing real soon because I want to be flash. So Paul leaving school and mum and dad had the view that of which was similar to most parents at that time, was you know, you need a good education, you need a good education, you know, you're only gonna if you if you have good education, you get a good job, you know, all of those standard things. But school wasn't for Paul, and Blackie came and met with mum and dad and just basically said, Look, school's not for Paul. And he convinced mum and dad to, you know, let him go, let him leave school and pursue his own path, you know, again. So when I think about it, you know, that's how different is that to Peter coming to knock on the door and talk to my folks, you know, same sort of diff with uh Peter, uh with sorry, with Blackie coming, you know, to talk to my parents. But Blackie has been involved with my life ever since those times. So I the last time I saw Blackie was probably uh in August last year. He came along to a very good one of the students who that I grew up with. He was actually my older brother's uh friend who came to see me at the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, Andre Hidaricki. He'd also worked for me at Sport Manoa 2. Unfortunately, he he passed away at 52. Uh no, actually he wasn't 52. Now I'm thinking of somebody else there. Uh I think he was 57, so a couple of years older than me, and he had the uh one of the motor neuron diseases. And um again, it was great that Blackie made the effort to come along, be part of it, as he has done throughout our lives. When I say our lives, it's the you know the cohort that um grew up in that Haw Punya hybrid area, went to school, Monrad on Tawatopu College and so forth. I mean Blackie was Fanu support for me in a in a job interview for um the Tehotsu Manwamadi, the national um for the National Heart Foundation. So yeah, so I might have taken a different tact that I was thinking of with um these episodes, but I wanted to step back and just you know, not skim over. And I I don't mean skim over like skim over stuff, but you know, that my my life moment and Peter's role is significant, but actually around the edges there, and actually not just around the edges, right in the middle, you know, a range of other people who you know who who've who were all part of that that magic that happened, you know, all part of that fabric, who wanted the best, you know, for me, but also, you know, just hoping that you would go on and and make something of your life. Because I can tell you there were teachers at school who made it pretty clear that we weren't going to amount to much. And I actually really took that to heart, and you know, I was really determined to show them that you know I could be someone or be something. And I don't, you know, yeah, I'm mentioned in that in this podcast, but it's not something that I I worry too much about uh nowadays. But because it does go back to that, you know, my my statements in my first episode, which is you know, be careful what you say to a young person because you you know you just don't know what's happening within their context. And you know, we we we've got to be able to, you know, create that opportunity, you know, be there to support them. Like I say, you know, if the student's ready, the teacher will turn up. And you know, I've I've been really, really fortunate that I've had some amazing teachers, mentors turn up in my life just when I've needed them. And they've done incredible things. And I've, you know, when I even when I think about you know the the story that I tell myself and the story that I tell others, you know, I realize that actually it's not just my storytelling. To tell. You know, I've been really, I it's not lucky. I've been, I'm really thankful that I've been open to enable and allow others to come into my life. Am I doing that nowadays? Probably not. You know, I've sort of, you know, yeah. I wouldn't say forget, but uh certainly doing this podcast, you know, it allows me to think about, you know, how fortunate I've been, sometimes how selfish I've been, how arrogant, you know, how much my ego has got in the way of different things. And again, it's great having some self-awareness, but you've also got to put it into practice, right? So um, look, I'm gonna end this podcast on on that note, just saying, you know, take some time to have a think about who's in your corner. And when I think about it in a boxing sense, you know, I always, you know, the the boxing coach, a really good boxing coach, he or she knows what I'm capable of. So his role or her role is to watch my opponent to make sure that when I come back down to sit down and get my mouth cut out and have a drink of water, and you know, Peter wouldn't say much. You know, we ain't had a minute, but for the first 10-15 seconds, you know, he just let me sit down, take out my mouth guard, have a drink, and then check in. And then his role would be to tell me what I'm not seeing, you know. So his goal was not to watch me, his goal was to watch the other person and tell me what what I might be missing and where my opportunities are, and that's what a a good coach does. You know, make sure that you're in the right frame of mind and able to go out and and get it done. The other thing I'll I'll just finish on is my dad used to come into the corner with me. My mother would be out in the in the audience. I mean, I can hear her on on most of the tapes, you know, the old tapes that I've got. You know, she was a huge supporter of all of my brothers, you know, that boxed and played rugby. But, you know, the key thing that made a huge difference for me was, you know, I, you know, put my mouth guard back in, you know, my father put my mouth guard back in and he wouldn't give me too many instructions because I could tell he was nervous, you know, and and he was nervous because he he didn't want me to get hurt, right? So and I experienced that as a coach, you know, like it's really hard because you can't do anything when you're well, you can, you can throw the towel in if it's if it does get too much. But he used to say to me, um, you know, he'd say, Oh, he'd just say, Oh, keep your hands up because he wanted me to protect myself, and then he'd say, You can do it. You can do it, son. And uh that's all I needed to hear. That's me signing out. Have a think about who's in your corner, you know, who are the the people that you should surround yourself with, you know, who are the people that you know it might be time to shift them along. You know, if I go back to uh Tyson Fury, you know, apparently he doesn't need anyone, he just needs somebody to give him a drink of water. I need I need people, I need to know that I can get feedback, I need to know that I can test ideas and all those types of things. So um that's me signing up for in the ring with Trevor Sheila, episode four. Have a think about who should be in your corner. Thank you.