fearyouth

fearyouth is a group of young athletes supported by and associated with the fearsociety. From a humble start which involved some local 14 and 15 year olds showing up to our rogaine events and smashing them out, it has evolved into a proper squad with big ambitions and a plan for the future. The squad is mentored in all aspects of endurance and adventure sport, is able to take advantage of our supplier discounts and partnerships in terms of getting top quality gear, gets significant discounts on annual membership to fee and reduced event costs, and has a structure set up such that the older members of the squad also serve as role models to support the growth of newer or younger members. FEAR also offers financial support towards the entry and participation cost of select high profile events, and provided guidance in further fundraising. As of the end of the 2022 event season the squad has 6 Senior members. They are:

Fynn Mitchell

Age: 17 (6th April 2005)
Specialty: Jack of all trades, navigator
Fynn is a Fiordland Local who's dad started participating in FEAR events early on, and has done GZ a number of times. Fynn's first FEAR event was our inaugural Dusky run, which he did with is dad. He was pulled into the big leagues last year when Dean couldn't do GZ and despite only being 16 and having the least experience on the team just made it all look easy. He's shown himself to be a jack of all trades and an exemplary navigator and is just keen to do it all. Fynn will be part of the team to take on both Godzone in February and Worlds next October.

Molly Spark

Age: 18
Specialty: Team motivator
Molly is a spitfire and has seems to have more energy than the rest of the team combined sometimes! AR comes in her family (her dad has started 6 GodZones!) and so when the boys got in touch after racing against her in the 2020 school champs (her team beat theirs!) she jumped at the chance to join the squad and be the youngest expedition team ever. Molly exemplifies the 'good things come in a small package' saying perfectly. She will be part of both the team to take on Godzone in February and Worlds next October.

Dean Stewart

Age: 19
Specialty: Navigation and bush travel
Dean showed up to a rogaine back in 2020 and was fastest round the course, beating Zac by minutes, who was used to the top spot. No one knew who he was, although in his own quiet way he was already doing big things (riding across NZ when he was 16 for example). Hailing from Wyndham, he joined the Fiordland boys and became fast friends. His background with remote hunting and navigation made him a huge asset, and he was pretty fast too. Dean will be part of the team to take on both GodZone in February and Worlds next October.

Zac Pearson

Age: 19
Specialty: Smack talk, navigation.
Zac is up for anything, and good at most of it. He was a top NZ mountain biker during his secondary school years, and became a proficient paddler and orienteer through participating in FEAR events. His style is 'fast and loose'. He led the team to victory in 2021's WTF and also into their first GZ in 2022, pushing to keep them in the top 10 until an injury to his hip required a helicopter evacuation. He's rehabbing the hip with an eye towards 2023/2024, and in the meantime is learing to fly a helicopter.

Josiah Murphy

Age: 19
Specialty: Speed (the runner)
Josiah doesn't like going slow. He's a weapon on the bike and like Zac and Josh was one of NZ's top riders in Enduro and Downhill when he was younger. A local of Te Anau, Josiah has been friends with the twins for over a decade and it was the three of them that initially decided that putting together a youth team for GodZone sounded like a good idea--all after finding their first FEAR rogaine 'not really that hard'. Josiah will be part of the team that takes on GodZone in February.

Josh Pearson

Age: 19
Specialty: Jack-of-all trades, navigation
Josh is the more level headed of the twins, and wasn't quite as keen about all the hard work at the beginning. But because he had the skills and was quite 'suffer-capable', he ended up being a go-to last minute team-mate replacement for competitive teams at FEAR events. It took him a bit longer to get the bug, but he has it now and he's all in. Josh will be competing in GZ with Fynn's dad (among others, and will be part of the squad that takes on Worlds in October.

The squad's accomplishments and event history can be found HERE

If you're interested in sponsoring the squad, click HERE.

If you want information about what membership entails, or to join fearyouth, click HERE.