Dylan Neal-Hill with mum Brenda Neal and sister Tayla Neal-Hill
National Kayak title holder Dylan Neal-Hill didn’t come from a sporting background or a privileged family. He’s simply one of those astoundingly talented and hard working young Cantabrians in a tough and expensive discipline which the Inspire Foundation was set up to support.
This 18 year old is ranked as NZ’s top U18 Paddler, and at 17 was the youngest member of the U18 NZ Squad to compete at the 2017 Jnr. World Champs in Romania. In May this year, Dylan played a key role with 7 medals in the NZ team at the Asia Pacific Canoe Sprint Cup which included 2 Golds and will shortly compete in Bulgaria at the Junior World Championships.
Dylan’s mum Brenda Neal says she’d always supported Dylan to have a go at different sports to help him with his confidence, but it was in a kayak for the first time aged 13 that his natural skill was obvious. But with talent comes not only financial, but emotional pressure – challenges of self-belief Dylan has struggled to overcome on his journey to the top.
Brenda says ‘discovering’ the Inspire Foundation was “finding support that we never thought we could receive and made us feel we weren’t alone.” Attending the Awards Events, connecting with other Grantees and hearing the speakers has had a huge impact on Dylan's struggle to deal with success and his future. Brenda particularly praises the inspirational ‘can-do’ enthusiast Matty Lovell which was like turning a light on for Dylan around overcoming the odds and personal demons to take on the world. She says Matty’s speech at an Inspire Awards Event was fundamental in connecting Dylan to his sport, himself and a future.
Dylan now has a renewed sense of purpose around balancing dreamsof competing at the Olympics with new dreams of completing aDiploma in Sports and Recreation to help other kids facing the sorts of challenges and barriers he’s had to overcome. Proud Mum Brenda says: “You can’t stop your kids living your dreams” and praises all those who make the Foundation possible, saying “Inspire has been instrumental in Dylan’s success.”
That’s a proud moment for the Inspire Foundation as we seek to support our future leaders and what they’ll bring to the region.