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Young Ferns Hope To Sail Uncharted Waters
by Jeremy Ruane
The Caribbean has always been a fine area of the world for cruising around, blessed as it is with sun-drenched beaches, crystal clear waters and exotic locations.
The Bahamas, for instance, the scene of many a James Bond movie. Jamaica. The Cayman Islands, where many a super yacht is registered - for tax purposes, of course! Not to mention the numerous island nations which make up that once-great cricketing fortress, the West Indies.
The two southernmost islands of this group, located as they are just off the coast of South America’s northernmost country, Venezuela, are playing host over the next three weeks to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals, the maiden version of which took place here in New Zealand just under two years ago.
The inaugural hosts qualified in convincing fashion for the 2010 event in Trinidad & Tobago, and the Young Ferns are quietly confident of sailing uncharted waters as far as New Zealand representative football sides are concerned - reaching the quarter-finals of a FIFA Finals tournament.
Yes, I know, we’ve heard such hopes being broadcast before - most recently by the Junior Ferns, whose spectacular failure at the U-20 Finals in Germany three months ago was the latest example of hopes unfulfilled, of ambition falling foul of reality, of New Zealand being "put in their place", as it were, by nations boasting a far greater footballing pedigree than their Antipodean rivals from the farthest reaches of the planet.
Young Ferns captain, Katie Bowen (left), firmly believes that she and her team-mates can fulfil that longstanding ambition of the nation’s football fans and reach the giddy heights of knockout football FIFA style.
"During our week-long trip to Sydney in July, we talked as a team about team goals. We want to be the first New Zealand team to reach the quarter-finals, something which, I think, would be an amazing achievement.
"Obviously we want to win the World Cup, but we’ve just got to take small steps at a time. For us, that definitely means getting into the quarter-finals".
And given the personnel he has chosen, coach Dave Edmondson and his charges could well realise that target. A change to FIFA’s eligibility rules since 2008 has denied Rosie White the chance to play in these finals again, but there are some highly promising youngsters who are itching to follow in her footsteps and make a name for themselves on the world stage in the Caribbean.
The likes of strikers Grace Parkinson and Brittany Dudley-Smith, for instance, who, along with fellow attackers Hannah Wong and Steph Skilton, make up a fairly formidable front-running foursome, any permutation of whom will cause problems for the opposition.
In midfield, Becky Burrows, Evie Millynn, 14-year-old Hannah Carlsen and Jessie Mathews boast talent aplenty, along with three players whom captain Bowen doesn’t hesitate to name as ones to watch in Trinidad & Tobago this month.
"Our wingers, Holly Patterson and Olivia Chance, have great pace, and aren’t afraid to take players on. Liv is probably one of our key players, in that she always manages to beat her opponent and get good crosses in.
"Another one to look out for is Kate Loye, in central midfield. She’s definitely a good player, with an amazing left foot".
First choice ‘keeper, Chloe-May Geurts, is backed up by fellow custodians Jessica Reddaway and fifteen-year-old Lily Alfeld, while defensively, the team is well served by a combination of Sivitha Boyce, Kate Carlton, Tessa McPherson and Michelle Windsor in central defence, and terrier-like fullbacks Rachel Head and Megan Lee, another member of this squad who will be eligible for the 2012 finals in Azerbaijan.
Not forgetting the captain, a role which the versatile Bowen very much relishes. "I love being captain", declares the fullback in this squad. "I like having people looking up to me, and I like having to lead by example.
"I think it’s a huge honour to be the captain for your country. Sometimes I feel a little bit of pressure because I always want to be perfect - I don’t want to slip off and give a wrong example, for instance. Other than that, I absolutely love it".
It’s not only her leadership skills which saw Bowen earmarked for this role very early in the piece. The experience she gained as a member of the 2008 squad is something which you simply cannot put a value on, particularly in a squad which boasts a couple of players whose second-ever overseas trip sees them representing New Zealand in Trinidad & Tobago!
"Coming into the Trinidad squad, it was a huge advantage having been in the Young Ferns two years ago, because I’d been through the World Cup and the preparation and the mentality that you have to have. If I hadn’t been in that squad I don’t think I would have been in the same position that I’m in now - it definitely had its benefits.
"For instance, I was very much a younger player in 2008, and the likes of Annalie Longo and Briony Fisher were the ones to look up to. So when I was named captain of this squad, I wanted to make sure that I led like them, and use that experience to benefit this team, as I felt ’Flea’ and ’Bri’ were great leaders".
One of the avenues via which sixteen-year-old Bowen has used this experience has been in the development of the team as a group. "Among the highlights of our preparation for Trinidad & Tobago has been being with the team a lot, and building up the team culture. It’s been good getting to know people and how they play, and working on strengths and weaknesses together.
"Another highlight was, of course, qualifying for the finals. You just think that beating a country 18-0 would be unrealistic, but we managed to do it. Prior to that tournament, the Secondary Schools tournament was noteworthy for me ’cause on paper, I felt they should have beaten us - they had full internationals and Junior Ferns playing for them.
"So managing to win that series was a highlight", grins the skipper, "as was getting a win in our first game in Sydney. I think the New South
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Wales Institute of Sport has been one of our toughest opponents yet, so scoring a first-up win over them put things into perspective and reality for us".
Those perspectives have been given a sharp jolt since the squad gathered in Miami, en route to the finals. There, the Young Ferns met fellow finalists in the Korea Republic less than eighteen hours after arriving in the country.
While the 1-0 loss to the reigning Asian champions in this training match was a good return in the circumstances, the follow-up defeat - Eire came from behind to defeat New Zealand 2-1 - saw the team which led by Evie Millynn’s goal produce a performance which left an awful lot to be desired overall.
That said, it could well prove to be the perfect result for these young Kiwis, who learnt the hard way that you do not underestimate the calibre of your opposition, starting with first-up Finals opponents, Venezuela.
"We haven’t watched any footage of them as yet", said Bowen prior to the squad’s departure for the Caribbean, "but I’m sure the boss will have something prepared. We have seen our other group rivals in action, though.
"Spain, our second opponents, are the European champions, and look very tricky! And Japan, who we play in Scarborough, Tobago - our first two games are in Couva, Trinidad - look to be a small but very technical side who’ll keep possession".
They’ll doubtless prove themselves to be challenging opponents for the Young Ferns, every bit as challenging as preparing for the Finals has been for the squad, given the need to juggle football commitments with study requirements throughout the year.
"I’m not going to lie, it hasn’t been easy", sighed Bowen, a year twelve student at Lynfield College. "We receive our individual fitness plans and strength programmes, and we have to do, for example, two fitness, two strength and one recovery session each week.
"You have to plan your basis around them, and study whenever you can, be it for thirty minutes or an hour. What’s more, because the Young Ferns have been training on weekends, our weekends have been chock-a-block, so it’s been quite hard to study. That said, I definitely wouldn’t have changed it for the world!"
Which Bowen is hoping will be her oyster beyond the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Finals. "We’ve been in contact with a few US universities to date, and I’m hoping to go to one that is good both academically and football-wise.
"I don’t want to go to a college solely for football and not get a degree that I want, and can use after my playing career is over. Hence I’ll have to do well in my Scholastic Aptitude Tests and study for them".
Before that, however, World Cup duties beckon. And for Katie Bowen and the Young Ferns, nothing less than a first-up win against Venezuela at 11am on Tuesday on Sky will suffice.
Thereafter, 8am encounters against Spain (Friday) and Japan (Tuesday 14th) are scheduled ahead of a potential quarter-final against one from Brazil, Canada, Eire or Ghana four days later.
The Young Ferns will concede goals in these Finals - defensive strength and depth has been a concern right from the outset with this squad. But such is their attacking prowess they will also score their fair share, too, and play some entertaining, enterprising football in the process.
It remains to be seen whether they will net more than they yield, but one thing’s for sure - they’ll give it a darn good go, and provide us with plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ along the way! As to whether or not the Young Ferns can make the quarter-finals … this writer, for one, won’t rule them out.
Warm-up match details:
28 August: Korea Republic 1 (Lee Han Woon (10)), Young Ferns 0
Geurts (Reddaway, 31) (Alfeld, 61); Bowen (Carlton, 61), Boyce (Windsor, 61), McPherson, Head; Burrows (Carlsen, 38), Millynn (Mathews, 45), Loye (Parkinson, 61); Patterson (Skilton, 61), Wong (Dudley-Smith, 61), Chance (Lee, 61)
31 August: Eire 2 (S. Killeen (37), R. Kearney (86)), Young Ferns 1 (E. Millynn (25))
Geurts (Reddaway, 68); Bowen, Boyce (Carlton, 73), McPherson (Windsor, 59), Head; Burrows (Carlsen, 53), Millynn (Mathews, 73), Loye (Parkinson, 89); Patterson (Dudley-Smith, 78), Wong (Skilton, 62), Chance (Lee, 78)
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