At only 16-years-old, it is hard to comprehend what Braxton Sorensen-McGee has achieved as an athlete.
Whether it be being recognised as the NZ Rugby League U16 girls’ player of the year in 2022 or contributing to the Auckland Storm winning the Farah Palmer Cup competition last month, there’s not much she hasn’t done.
And now as the local footballer approaches her final year of schooling at Auckland Girls Grammar School (AGGS) in 2024, there is confidence that she could be the youngest ever Kiwi Fern and Black Fern double representative.
Braxton, more commonly known by her counterparts as Brax, was born into a rugby league household, with multiple members sharing the Sorensen surname representing New Zealand Rugby League on the international stage.
Her second cousin, Scott Sorensen, is the most recent in the family to pull on the New Zealand Kiwis jersey at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup and, notably also winning the NRL final on Sunday with the Penrith Panthers.
At just two-years-old Braxton was joining in on her brother’s league trainings and, as she grew up, she quickly became the tackling dummy.
She kicked off her own rugby league career as the only girl in a Howick Hornets under-seven side, where she dominated.
Growing up, Braxton was a dominant force in every rugby league team that she was a member of.
In 2022, she was a pivotal player for her AGGS team where she was voted most valuable player in the Auckland Secondary School final for the second consecutive year.
She also was the highest points scorer for that particular Auckland competition and also the New Zealand national tournament held in Rotorua.
Braxton played a pivotal role this season for the Howick Hornets U18 girls, who went through their campaign unbeaten. She scored two of the team’s 12 tries and kicked 10 goals in their emphatic 68-20 final victory over the Otara Scorpions at Mount Smart Stadium.
To summarise, the year 12 AGGS student’s rugby league achievements in an article would not do them justice.
However, she has most notably played for the Counties Manukau Stingrays, Fetu Samoa U16s, Counties Manukau Māori, Auckland Vulcans U18s, the NZSS representative side and many more.
Not to mention she is constantly selected for tournament teams and recognised as the most valuable player.
Where parents sometimes find it difficult to get their kids to play outside, Braxton’s mum Nicole Sorensen says she struggles to keep her indoors.
“Sometimes we have to physically keep her away from trainings to control her workload because if she just goes to watch, she’ll end up training.
Nicole says there have been times that Braxton was training seven days a week for her multiple teams.
“If Brax could have it her way, she’d just keep training,” she says.
It wasn’t until year nine that Braxton started playing rugby union for AGGS, adding to her already busy schedule.
She quickly became a dominant figure in schoolgirl rugby, taking the field for AGGS’s 1st XV and sevens sides.
She led her team to winning the 1st XV secondary schools girls final in 2022 and narrowly missed out on going back-to-back in 2023.
In 2023, Braxton was named in the wider squad for the Auckland Storm in their Farah Palmer Cup campaign, an impressive feat considering she had only ever played rugby union for her school side.
“I actually found out from another girls’ parent that she was in the squad. Brax didn’t tell me because she didn’t think she’d play considering the number of Black Ferns in the side,” says Nicole.
Sure enough, Braxton was named in the squad for their 2023 campaign.
“She was so excited because of the experience she would gain from the likes of Ruahei Demant, Katelyn Vaha’akolo and Eloise Blackwell,” Nicole says.
Unavaliable for the first game of the season due to representing Counties Manukau in league, Braxton made her Farah Palmer Cup debut off the bench against Wellington in round two.
She made a statement, subsequently being named as starting fullback for Auckland for the rest of the season.
Braxton played a pivotal role for the Auckland Storm, who were crowned winners of the Farah Palmer Cup in September after upsetting Canterbury.
She was also named rookie of the year for the side.
Now as she has had invaluable experience in both rugby league and union, the jury is out on what code she will choose to pursue.
“She’s always wanted to play in the NRLW but now after her season with Auckland, so many more doors have opened for her,” Nicole says.
After already turning down an offer to play rugby league in Australia, Nicole says Braxton is solely focused on finishing her schooling at AGGS.
“After that the world’s her oyster,” says Nicole.
Throughout her short, yet breathtaking career, there has been one person who Braxton looks up to most, her older brother Dredin.
Dredin, also a Hornet from a young age, has had quite the league career of his own.
In 2023, he joined the Melbourne Storm feeder club, the Brisbane Tigers after initially signing with the NZ Warriors.
Nicole says the two siblings are incredibly competitive, always comparing their accolades.
“Dredin has a schoolboys Kiwis jersey and now she has a schoolgirls Kiwis jersey and they always compare what teams they have played for,” she says.
Nicole says Braxton’s long list of accomplishments at only 16 still amazes her.
“The one thing that I love the most is that she’s just so humble about it.
“She’s a great kid. She’s not the type of person to look down on people,” Nicole says.
Braxton’s character doesn’t go unnoticed, with parents and teammates constantly voicing their compliments.
“It always warms a mother’s heart when you hear the attributes of other people telling you about your child even though you know about your child,” Nicole says.
Howick Hornets media manager Josh Garry says Braxton takes everything in her stride and is professional with everything she does, whilst remaining incredibly humble.
“You get players that are once-in-a-generation, but Braxton is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of talent.
“I am putting the house on her to be the youngest ever Kiwi Fern and Black Fern double representative, followed soon after by being the first duel Fern captain,” he says.
Braxton’s school and club league coach, Dave Rewi says she has continued to evolve and develop into an amazing rugby league player.
“She always plays the game with good sportsmanship and she leads her teams very well. She trains very hard and always encourages her teammates which helps to foster and build a strong team culture,” Rewi says.
