Students at ACG Tauranga would have been impressed on Friday, when local All Black Nathan Harris dropped in for a meet and greet.

The Steamers and Chiefs player took the students for some drills, and shared his journey to becoming a professional sportsman.

'The kids don't really get to know us personally, so it's cool for them to put names to faces,” says Nathan.

Recently he's been off the field due to a knee injury sustained five months ago, but is hoping to get some good news when he sees his surgeon again in a couple weeks.

'You try to push yourself to do other things in the meantime. I've had a bit of a holiday with my family in Te Puke. Hopefully I'll get out for a dive soon,” he laughs.

ACG Tauranga Shawn Hutchinson says the visit was brought about by Heather Salt and her husband Murray, who are very involved in Te Puke sport and are grandparents to one of the school's Year 8 pupils.

'We spend every day talking to the students, so from time to time it's really healthy for young people to listen to a different perspective,” says Shawn.

'Having the opportunity to bring other people into the school to share their stories and the challenges they've faced is valuable for our young people, regardless of the academic pathway they take.”

He adds an important part of such talks is hearing the challenges successful people can often face in realising their ambitions.

'Being a young school, we want to establish a culture and foundation where we don't give up when we face challenges. We look at a range of strategies to manage those difficulties and work through them.”