Wave Panthera Review by Rosie Malone
"Every great move forward in life begins with a leap of faith, a step into the unknown." - Brian Tracy
As a six-year-old girl starting out in hockey, running around on the grass fields of the Gold Coast, with a hand-me-down uniform, mum's old stick and my brothers spare footy boots, I would never have imaged that one day that little girl would be travelling all over the world playing hockey for her country.
They say that everything you’ll ever want is just one step outside of your comfort zone. For me, some of the scariest, most vulnerable and challenging situations I have pushed myself towards, have lead to the most amazing experiences. So… what has been the reward for taking that step outside my comfort zone? Being a part of the Australian team for the last five years, playing at my first Olympic Games in Tokyo (finishing fifth), winning a World Cup bronze medal, a Commonwealth Games silver medal, being named as one of the top 5 junior players in the world and seeing the impact I have had on many young girls in sport looking for a role model. My path forward through elite sport has been unique, thrilling, challenging, magical and has required a lot of belief in myself to step up and take the lead despite what everyone else is doing or saying.
In 2021, I stepped into a new kind of shoe with an exciting brand that also understands the power of sport and the value it can bring to one's life. Mizuno understand that the journey in sport from grass roots right through to the elite level requires quality, passion, innovation, performance, and trust. That is the kind of brand I wanted to align myself with and once I stepped into the new Wave Panthera hockey shoe, there was no stepping out.
Every day I spend hours on the hockey pitch training and playing under all kinds of conditions in the heat, rain, cold and humidity. I'm running, sprinting, turning, changing direction, and putting a lot of load through my shoes in every session. As hockey players, the two most important pieces of equipment that need to be top quality to help us perform are our stick and our shoes... and boy do our shoes get put through some serious wear and tear playing hockey. So quality, comfort and performance are the most important things for us players to have longevity in our hockey shoes and the Wave Panthera's have done exactly that for me.
It’s now 2023, the Paris Olympics is right around the corner and I am sitting here today still hungry to do more, see more, achieve more and inspire more. So as I continue to evolve, both as a person and as an athlete, I only want to use performance gear that will evolve with me. At the end of the day, we’ve only got one life to chase down our dreams, so don’t waste time sitting back and hiding in your comfort zone. Make the leap and step out into a shoe that will take you to places you only dreamed of, Wave Panthera.
Written by Australian hockey player, Rosie Malone @rosiemalone