Around the world for a jersey: The extreme travel of New Zealand’s athletes

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Sailors representing New Zealand stopped off in the most countries (8) of any team in the last 12 months.
• New Zealand cricketers went to Zimbabwe for the first time in nine years and spent nearly three months in the subcontinent.
• Footballers travel the longest distances to be with the national teams.
• Basketballers play in locations other New Zealand sportspeople do not.

Each year, New Zealand athletes crisscross the world, some come close to circumnavigating the globe, and some stop off in places athletes in other codes never will.

In the coming months athletes will take detours, extend travel days and deal with cancellations as they do their jobs while travel is disrupted by the Iran war.

Costa Rica, Taiwan, Spain, Mexico, United States, Australia and Solomon Islands are the places where Football Fern Maya Hahn has put on her boots for the national team in the last 12 months.

The globe-trotting midfielder plays club football in Germany and after committing to New Zealand for senior football in 2025 she has been a regular in the squad.

Where the Football Ferns play in any given year comes down to a number of factors. Fifa and Oceania Football Confederation decide where the Football World Cup qualifying tournaments are held, for instance last month in Solomon Islands, and New Zealand Football negotiates with other national associations to get games during the set international windows each year.

Scoring the winner with her first senior international goal behind closed doors in a tiny Costa Rican stadium, the unplayable pitches in Taiwan, facing Venezuela at a popular Spanish training hub, a heavy defeat at a sold out Australian stadium and surviving the heat of the Solomon Islands are some of the tales Hahn can tell from the first year of her Football Ferns career.

“Through football, you’re able to go to all these crazy random countries and travel all over the world, places you might not even typically choose to go to,” Hahn said.

“Definitely, I need to plant a rainforest or something with my carbon footprint now.”

Hahn quickly found out that not everything goes to plan in international football and sports administration works differently in different parts of the world. Scheduled to make her debut at Costa Rica’s Alejandro Morera Soto Stadium, the host nation caught the Football Ferns off guard by switching venues to a smaller stadium a day before kick off and limiting supporters for game two.

Her next trip, to Taiwan, did not result in any competitive football being played after the pitches were deemed too dangerous to play on, meaning the games in April last year were cancelled.

“There were some issues with the field and what was promised and what they had said that would be available and it wasn’t really at the same standard,” Hahn said of the Taiwan tour.

“We were just training and using the time to connect as a team. So that was definitely a different experience and not one that we expected, especially when you travel that far.”

Games against Venezuela at Estadio Nuevo Mirador in southern Spain did provide an off-field highlight for Hahn and her team mates.

“There was a lot of like English teams there. [Manchester City and Norway striker] Erling Haaland was there at the same time as us as well.

“It was crazy. He just shows up in a Lamborghini and then he’s kicking a ball around with his girlfriend on the field while we’re in the gym.”

To get back to New Zealand for next month’s Fifa Women’s World Cup 2027 Oceania Qualifiers, Hahn has an even longer route than normal.

Unable to transit through Dubai, as she normally would, Hahn will now play an away game for her club side Viktoria Berlin in Munich on the Sunday, stay overnight then board a flight for Vancouver and then arrive in Auckland on Wednesday and play in the World Cup qualifiers semi-final in Hamilton four days later.

“I think our managers with the travel agency, they do a good job of making sure we’re well looked after and getting the best connections possible. But that’s definitely a lot of work, I think.”

All White Ben Old, who plays for AS Saint-Etienne in France, was among the players who experienced the current travel conditions in reverse, coming to Auckland for this week’s Fifa Series.

“France to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Singapore, Singapore to Auckland, I landed at 1am [on Monday] and I had my game at 8pm on Saturday [France time] I had my flight in the morning at 6am so I didn’t sleep because it’s so hard to sleep after a game.”

Bucket list locations or places not on the radar

The global nature of basketball means New Zealand’s national teams, from age-group to senior sides, play in locations that other New Zealand sportspeople do not.

Tall Blacks coach Judd Flavell and many of his roster had never been to the Micronesian island of Guam before playing a World Cup qualifier there this month.

The New Zealand team was only in the United States territory for a short period of time, arriving from the Philippines, playing the next day and then heading back to their respective bases around the world after a big win.

In the last 12 months the Tall Blacks have also been to Saudi Arabia, Australia and the Philippines.

Tall Black Jordan Ngatai, now based in Japan, has played for New Zealand since 2013.

He was one of the few current players who had been to Guam – “a mini Hawaii, with a similar type of vibe” – before, just one of a number of places basketball has taken the 33-year-old including Lebanon, Jordan, Korea and Hong Kong.

Sometimes the Tall Blacks were met by relaxed vibes other times security was amped up.

Police escorts to stadiums for Fiba tournaments are common and sometimes complex.

“The last World Cup we were at [in the Philippines] we had a police escort from our hotel to the arena but the arena was only a 10 minute walk but we had to catch the bus because it lead around to the player’s entrance a process that would of took a 10 minute walk, or not even that, was a 10 to 15 minute bus ride.”

Seeing much beyond the basketball court, training gym and hotel is not always possible

“Whenever we do get our little days off we make the most of it as, yes, we’re there for basketball, but as people, as human beings, we want to explore different cultures and explore the country that we’re in.

“I feel like we try and do, sometimes the most touristy things, but also some of the things that the locals kind of do as well.”

Turkey, for the coffee and markets, and Lebanon, for the fans, have been memorable for Ngatai.

Ngatai said a stadium of less than 7000 people in Beirut sounded more like 25000 fans.

“Just by the drums that were playing, the whistles, just the whole environment of them yelling.

“I remember it was our first time at Asia Cup and we were performing our haka and from start to finish, the boys could not hear me.

“I just said that my main message before we did it was just try and I’m going to be as loud as I can, just try and hear it and copy the person in front if you can’t hear.

“So we got through it, it was good, but that’s probably one of the loudest environments I’ve been in from that aspect of it.”

On Lebanon’s return trip to New Zealand the players wondered if the New Zealand fans were “ok” given how quiet they were in comparison to other basketball playing countries.

“People probably think that Tall Ferns and Tall Blacks just go play in the same countries but there’s two different ways of the women’s side and the men’s side of how they can qualify for the World Cup and so they get to probably see more of South America and the other side of Europe compared to what we get to see.”

Tall Ferns captain Tayla Dalton spoke to RNZ from a hotel in Puerto Rico before the World Cup qualifiers tipped off this month. The team had been in a training camp in Melbourne before travelling as a group to San Juan.

“It’s stunning, it’s so pretty we’re staying right on the beach so we’re so spoilt,” Dalton said of the Caribbean island.

“I’ve gone and played in Mongolia and Belarus places I would never have gone to without basketball but Puerto Rico is a good one let me tell you that.”

The Tall Ferns had also been in China in the middle of last year for the Asia Cup.

Sailing around the world

SailGP gives competing boats a ‘home’ event.

This year the series has moved to align with the calendar year, but in the 2024/25 season the Black Foils were off-shore in Dubai, Australia, United States, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Abu Dhabi.

In January this year New Zealand started the series in Perth had a crash, got the boat back together for their home race in Auckland before having another crash which has prevented them competing in the following events in Sydney or Brazil in April.

If the Black Foils are back in the water by the Bermuda Grand Prix in May, the team will then travel to United States, Canada, England, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Dubai and Abu Dhabi all before the end of November.

Sailors can return home between some legs of the racing or just travel on with their boat to the next location if time is tight.

Across the sporting disciplines New Zealand teams took part in last year – the eight different locations took the sailors to the top of the charts for miles covered.

Months on the road

Cricketers, from this part of the world, across their careers get to know India well.

Some members of the Black Caps spent nearly three months in the subcontinent this year with a white ball series against India followed straight after by the T20 World Cup hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

Coach Rob Walter, at the airport after the World Cup about to board his flight back to New Zealand for the series against South Africa, reflected on the time away from home.

“It was a pretty intense nine weeks to be fair in India and Sri Lanka.

“That’s the nature of the beast right now in international cricket and understanding we also have to take care of our players. Those guys left everything out there from a World Cup point of view.”

Eight World Cup players were rested for the home series against South Africa.

“You still need to be in a mental space to put your best foot forward for your country when you’re competing and [I’m] trying to ensure that that’s the case.”

The cricket calendar is decided years in advance by the International Cricket Council via the Future Tours Programme.

Politics can also play a part, particularly when India and Pakistan are involved.

In 2025 the Black Caps played in Pakistan, Dubai and for the first time in a decade played ODIs in Zimbabwe.

The Middle East hosted more cricket in recent years as a neutral venue but traditionally New Zealand was scheduled to play in other major cricket playing nations.

Next month, New Zealand will play T20s in Bangladesh, followed by Tests in England in June.

It is not unusual for cricketers to spend long periods way from home. New Zealand Cricket gave former Black Caps coach Gary Stead a break in 2020 after he had spent just four of the last 16 months at home.

Similar to the Black Caps, the White Ferns were in India and Sri Lanka late last year for a global tournament and will head to England for a World Cup warm up series before the T20 World Cup starts there in June.

Rugby and netball playing nations

New Zealand’s traditional codes have a regular rotation of places they go to play.

The Silver Ferns stick to Commonwealth countries.

In a disrupted end to 2025 the netballers played the Constellation Cup in Australia and then had a quick turnaround to the Northern Tour in England and Scotland.

Argentina, Australia, United States, Scotland, England and Wales was where the All Blacks went in 2025.

All places they had played before and, minus Argentina, will play in again this year.

This year they will also tour South Africa to play professional franchise sides as well as the Springboks.

The Black Ferns’ away games were in Australia in the Pacific Four Championship last season as well as the Rugby World Cup in England in August and September.

Next month the Black Ferns play in the Pacific Four Series in the United States and Australia.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand