Her Story
Meet Head Coach,
Morgan Haakma
Morgan's wakeboarding journey started back when she was 10 years old competing in her first competition at the Rotorua Blue Lake in 2009. Since then, Wakeboarding has been a huge part of her life. With her passion and talent for coaching, Morgs takes pride in the success and progression she sees in her riders. She goes above and beyond to help her riders reach their goals and have as much fun as possible along the way!
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Morgan has worked hard to become one of New Zealand's top female wakeboarders, and is a proud ambassador for the sport. She has represented NZ in competitions around the world since 2012, and is incredibly grateful for the opportunities and experiences wakeboarding has given her.
A career highlight for Morgan so far was winning 1st Place at the WWA Wakeboard World Champs in Toronto, 2017, in the Women's 19+ division. She placed 2nd at the 2023 WWA World Champs in Portugal.
Through her travels and experiences, Morgs has had the opportunity to ride all around the world with some of the world's best wakeboarders and coaches. She has plenty of international coaching experience including Shred the Gnar Wake School in North Carolina, Camp Modin in Maine, and WakeUp Academy in Latvia.
Morgan's coaching style merges together the best of all she's learned with her professional background to provide unique training experiences for her riders. She works hard to keep riders safe and injury free while helping them feel empowered to achieve their goals.
Morgs completed her Masters in Sport, Health and Human Performance at the University of Waikato, under the Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship. She also completed a Study Exchange in Exercise Science at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and an Internship in Sports Analytics with the Chiefs Rugby Team. She is also working towards becoming a certified STOT Pilates Trainer.
Morgs has a passion for growing the sport of wakeboarding in NZ. While she was out of action with some unfortunate injuries, she decided to focus her energy on helping raise the next generation of NZ riders, with a particular focus on young female riders.
One young rider in particular, Phoebe Buckley, has risen from a humble beginnings getting up for the first time as an 8 year old on Morgan's kids camp. Phoebe is now one of the top female riders in NZ and made her international debut in 2022. She trained with Morgs in Orlando, Florida, then went on to compete in the IWWF Wakeboarding World Champs in Italy. (Featured in the picture next to Morgan).
When Morgs is not on the water, she works for an amazing charitable trust in Hamilton called The WaterBoy, helping provide underprivileged kids with the opportunity to participate in sport and personal development activities.
Morgs is looking forward to coaching you and helping you achieve your goals and have heaps of fun on the water!
