Bouncing Back From Setback The Target For "Daytime" by Jeremy Ruane By the time this story reaches the public eye, the eighteen-strong New Zealand women's squad will be back home from its two-match trip to Japan, and back in the routine of thrice-weekly training sessions and regular practice matches against young male teams as Project China 2007-8 continues unabated. But not all of the thirty-five-strong Elite Senior Women's International Development Squad made the trip. One of those who missed out this time round is Dana Humby, who earned her first two caps for the national team in New Zealand's most recent internationals prior to the Japanese venture, against the Olympic women's champions, the USA, last October. "I was a bit disheartened when I wasn't named in the latest squad, given the hard work and effort I'd put in, that's for sure", says the Bucklands Beach resident. "Especially as making the NZ team for the first time was such a highlight in my career to date, particularly after having endured such a challenging start to the 2004 campaign with my glandular fever setback". That illness, coming as it did after a really hard-working pre-season in preparation for a campaign which promised plenty for Humby and her Three Kings United team-mates, knocked her sideways. "I thought I'd find it hard to get back into it after such a setback, but it didn't prove to be as tough as I envisaged". Ain't that the truth, Humby bouncing back with such vigour that she was named Auckland Sportswoman of the Year at the end of last season. Then came selection in the New Zealand squad for the US matches, and a position in the starting line-up in both internationals, the first of which took place a day before her 25th birthday. "Playing in front of such crowds was scary - the sheer noise from the crowd was amazing. "From playing in front of, on average, fifty people each week locally to walking out in front of roughly 20,000 fans in both Portland and Cincinnati - it was a bit of an eye-opener! Indeed, it's the sort of thing you see on TV, never thinking that you'll get to play in front of such crowds. An amazing experience". It's a far cry from the days in 1989 when Humby first caught the soccer bug, a result of regularly watching, with other members of the family, eight-year-old cousin Marcel Edwin having the time of his life playing with his pals at Lloyd Elsmore Park every Saturday morning. The then-ten-year-old future Scholastic New Zealand employee was quite taken with her young relative's obvious enjoyment, and it wasn't long before she, too, was having a laugh and a kick about herself each Saturday. It wasn't too long before she was emerging as a player of promise, and representative recognition followed soon after. It was in her first rep team, the Auckland Under-15s squad, that she picked up the nickname which now adorns a personalised plate on her pride and joy, her Mazda Familia. "No one in the team could pronounce my name right - I'd be Darna one minute, Dayna the next! So a couple of enterprising team-mates, Kristy Hill and Danielle Hobby, came up with 'Daytime' as an alternative, and it's stuck ever since!" Ten seasons on, during which time she met and was photographed with her favourite player - "We were on a family holiday at Disneyland in 1999 and met David Beckham there!", 'Daytime' has continued to develop her game, urged on by her parents, Kay and Doug, and older sister Vanya. "Their motivation and support has meant a great deal to me over the years", says the pasta-loving defender, "as has the influence on my career of three coaches in particular - Dean Lowe, Sue Taylor, and Chris Milicich, who's one of the best coaches I've had". The former East Auckland and Waitakere United mentor held the reins of Ellerslie's Premier Women's team in 2001, and oversaw their rise to national prominence, as winners of that season's Uncle Toby's Women's Knockout Cup, the solitary honour Dana has to show from her days in club football. Those days, of course, are over now, with the fan of Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts part of New Zealand's Elite Senior Women's International Development squad. "I think we're benefiting from three training sessions a week with top coaches. The intensity is so much higher than what we've been used to at club level. "Of course, you miss playing every Sunday with your mates, and the game time as well, but these aside, what we're doing is what needs to be done if we're to have a chance of realising our ambitions". The twenty-two-times capped Auckland rep, who first sampled a taste of the international scene as part of the New Zealand Regional Selection which took part in the quadrangular tournament at Bill McKinlay Park in 2001, certainly wants to play her part in the big picture which all New Zealand's elite female footballers have their sights set on. "Ultimately, I hope to make the squad named for the Women's World Cup qualifying series", says the keen mountain-biker and multi-sports participant. "And from there, move on to, hopefully, the finals themselves, and the Olympic Women's Football Tournament, too". Meantime, the versatile defender - she can also play in midfield, and is a mean penalty-taker - has a personal target to satisfy, particular after the setback of missing out on the trip to Japan. "It's up to me now to move on, move forward, concentrate, keep working and training hard, put the effort in and look forward to the naming of the next New Zealand squad for international duty. My ambition right now is to make that squad, and prove that I'm worthy of a place in it". Having produced the best form of her career to date upon coming back from glandular fever, you can count on Dana Humby bouncing back from this latest setback with a vengeance.