Words from Ivan’s Mum
Ivan has always loved sports - he is very competitive and when he sets his mind to something he does all he can to achieve and do his best. He is probably his harshest critic!
When Ivan was about 18months old - we brought him his first golf club - a little lefty driver because he was left handed then. He used to love watching the golf on TV with Dad and he even named our cat Tiger - after Tiger Woods. (Brad has a video on YouTube from 13 years ago of Ivan hitting the ball in our backyard!)
But Ivan loved rugby. He wanted to be an All Black - so from age 5 he started playing club rugby Mercury Bay Rugby Club - he was a great little half back that would direct and lead the whole team. He became a very well respected 'leader' amongst his peers. Over the years he went on to play and captain the rep teams and won MVPs and also Sportsman of the Year in Year 6. But at the age of 9-10 (2016/2017) he started to get bad headaches. We had a great doctor who pushed for lots of tests, after a MRI the specialist had identified a 'bubble' on the base of his brain and because of family history with aneurysms Ivan has to be monitored by yearly MRIs to ensure it wasn't growing. The specialist also told Ivan he could no longer play his beloved Rugby anymore - no contact sport allowed. This initially was very upsetting for Ivan as his dream of becoming an All Black was over. But not one to dwell too long, he asked Dad, can I play golf, Dad of course said yes and they went out and joined the local club and started practicing...with Dads clubs -while we slowly built him up a set. Dad researched Junior Golf in New Zealand and entered him into golf tournaments with US Kids Golf. Of course he just took to it so naturally and now has a new love - Golf
Ivan is of local (Whangapoua) Iwi, Ngati Huarere decent - He is named after his great grandad Ivan Adams, his great grand mother Lil Adams(Ngati Huarere) loved golf, so she would be so proud as we all are. Ivans great great great grandmother is Meri Te Tai Managakahia - Maori Women suffrage campaigner, who worked alongside Kate Shephard in the fight to allow women to vote.