Xenia Berger holds an amateur radio license and her call sign is ZL4YL. She is a member of the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters of the Hawke’s Bay Radio Club. As in many sports, there is a World Championship held every four years. This year the event is held in Germany in July and there are sixty-three teams participating. The qualification process takes two years and you need to achieve a high placing in twenty-eight qualification contests.

Xenia will be participating as a member of the team Oceania Two. Oceania covers the South Pacific region from Australia to Tahiti/Pitcairn Island and south of the Solomon Islands. Only one team from this region qualified. Xenia is the second youngest contestant worldwide and the youngest ever female participant. She currently holds four world records in the ‘rookie’ class: newcomers licensed less than three years. She also holds a number of Oceania and New Zealand records.

Article added: Monday 16 July 2018