A Pasifika mum and teen daughters provide a fitness and confidence boost for city teens.
Training up the younger generation to be confident and stay active is the purpose behind Auckland based fitness programme, FitTeens.
The programme caters to 12-to-18-year-olds, and its mother Deeyana Amosa, and her daughters Roman (15) and Kaide (18) who are the brains and muscles behind it all.
The concept came about during the pandemic when Deeyana struggled to find a fitness programme for her girls to attend. But with a background in the fitness industry, Deeyana took it upon herself to train her daughters and turn their idea into reality.
FitTeens officially launched last year in November with less than 10 members, and it has since grown to become a safe space for Pacific teens to congregate and stay active.
“A lot of our members, over 50% of them are female and the biggest barrier is confidence,” Deeyana says.
“For our Pasifika girls and our teens, this is a great help and is a safe space and comfortable space for them to come along, …not only to learn how to exercise, but to interact with other like-minded teens so that they can go out into the community and be great leaders.”
The FitTeens programme is currently on a one-class per week basis with their Never-Miss-a-Monday sessions. Their four-week holiday programme will roll out on September 30th for three days a week and will run from Monday, Wednesday and Friday/Saturday out of Botany’s Zero 2 100 Gym or Glen Eden’s BFT.
Classes vary from strength and cardio training sessions indoors, while some classes will head outdoors for a change of scenery.
“We like to make sure that our programme is challenging and evolving so that it remains interesting and challenging for our teens because as we know, teens get bored quite easily,” Deeyana says.
“Not only does it have to be challenging, but it has to be fun, and that’s what we aim to do with FitTeens.”
For thirteen-year-old Ezekiel Mealamu, improving his confidence and personal health are the key factors in why he joined the programme.
“I really wanted to build up my confidence and be able to be comfortable in my clothes and my skin,” he says.
“There are no judgments. I’m able to be myself and express who I am while also working out and trying my best, and also being able to motivate others when they motivate me as well.”
For his brother Dominic, the programme has helped him improve in rugby.
“Before, I couldn’t keep up with, like, the backs, and how they were running around and forming the scrums, … but now I actually began to pick up my game, and um which means (I’m) able to get around faster and quicker than the boys. That actually helped me a lot,” Dominic says.
The teens are trained by 15-year-old Roman who fronts the classes with the help of her sister Kaide, while their mum supervises. And although it’s out of the ordinary to have teenagers teach other teens, it has become a great learning experience for all parties.
“[Roman’s] very encouraging. She’s always supportive of people that kind of lack behind, and she always motivates them to push, and she did the same thing with me when I first joined,” Dominic says.
“She’s just a lovely and kind person.”
In the beginning, Roman wasn’t keen on the idea of leading classes but she is now thriving and comfortable in the role. But the sisters admit that teaching teens as teenagers can be ‘uncomfortable’.
“You’d rather have an adult or someone who’s experienced than yourself to teach the class but we’re just trying to step out of our comfort zone,” Kaide says.
“It all comes down to a confidence thing.”
With a vision to operate out of their own premises one day, Deeyana also hopes to extend the programme into a wellness branch that offers counselling services and mentorship for teens.
Her determination to bring her vision to fruition has caused her to step away from real estate and pursue FitTeens wholeheartedly.
“It wasn’t easy for me or my family,” Deeyana says.
“With this type of programme, you really have to have a heart for the community because if I’m really, really honest, there’s not much financial gain from this type of programme. I’m really fortunate that my husband brings in the household income sort of thing, so it’s freed me up to help my daughters, help FitTeens grow.”
