Education
After being identified as a long-term prospect, she attended several training camps before being named in the squad to travel to Dubai for the inaugural Institutional Review Board women"s world series tournament.
After being identified as a long-term prospect, she attended several training camps before being named in the squad to travel to Dubai for the inaugural Institutional Review Board women"s world series tournament.
She plays in the Centre position for the Manawatu Cyclones, and for New Zealand"s national women"s sevens team Her transition back to rugby was with the Stratford club, after they decided to field a team in the Manawatu club competition. lieutenant didn"t take long for her talent to be recognised - she was selected in the Manawatu representative side as a midfielder before a back injury sidelined her for the season.
She came back strongly and set her sights on making the national women"s sevens squad.
Burgess was then selected and named captain in the Taranaki women"s sevens side to compete in a regional tournament in Palmerston North. She was also one of three Taranaki representatives who had been selected in the New Zealand Go4Gold programme set up to identify potential talent ahead of the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Together with older sister Erica, Burgess excelled at netball from the outset, moving through the representative grades at high school before eventually being named captain of the New Zealand secondary schools squad in 2004, a side that contained such illustrious names as Maria Tutaia and Cathrine Latu. From there the midcourter became a regular fixture in the now defunct Western Flyers in the National Bank Cup, before being signed with the Central Pulse for the inaugural season of the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Championship.
Burgess nevertheless received a call-up to the Southern Steel bench in Round 2 that year as a temporary replacement for the injured Megan Hutton.