The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home
2005
Classy Kirsty's Connecticut-Bound
by Jeremy Ruane
The annual exodus of soccer scholars to the USA begins shortly, and one of those heading north-east this year to broaden her horizons, both football and education-wise, is one of New Zealand's most talented women's soccer stars, a player with a very bright future ahead of her.
Kirsty Yallop is heading to Central Connecticut State University at the end of July, where she is currently set to study a course in athletic training, although that is subject to change at present.
The multi-skilled midfielder, as adept in the engine room as she is on either flank, will be joining a Blue Devils squad boasting English, Canadian, Swedish and US natives, after a chance conversation led to her
securing the opportunity to further her burgeoning football career.
"I had been looking around, and firing off emails left, right and centre in an effort to secure an opening on the US college scene, when a chat with one of the girls in the Australian Secondary Schoolgirls squad last year
put me in touch with Mick D'Arcy, the coach at CCSU, who have won the Northeast Conference championship in each of the past years.
"Things moved along fairly quickly as a result, to the extent that my move to America was confirmed in February this year", says the bubbly eighteen-year-old, whose achievements in 2004 earned her a Highly Commended acknowledgement in this year's New Zealand Herald Junior Sports Awards.
And what achievements! A third successive Northern Premier Women's League - Uncle Toby's Women's Knockout Cup double with Lynn-Avon United, captain of the New Zealand Secondary Schoolgirls side which secured its first favourable result - a scoreless draw - in a decade against their Australian
counterparts, and, best of all, making her full international debut just two days later.
"Playing against the USA on my debut in front of 16,500 fans in Portland, Oregon, was just awesome. I was a substitute in that match, and was in the
starting line-up for our next game, played before 18,800 fans in Cincinnati. We got thrashed both times, but the experience was just something else".
It's a far cry from what 'KY' and her New Zealand colleagues have been used to - appearing before an average of less than one hundred spectators at best each week! Even in the recent visit to Japan - "that was a very demanding tour", reflects the former Avondale College student - 3,500 fans were on hand to watch the action in the full international.
The 2003 Northern Premier Women's League Young Player of the Year has no doubts that the Elite Squad programme NZ Soccer has introduced is hugely
beneficial for the players, save for one aspect.
"The training is great - everyone's improving, both individually and collectively. But everyone knows the one thing that we're lacking most - games.
"What we're doing is heaps different from club football, where you can only go so far in terms of your progress. The level to which we're aspiring - the
|
 photo courtesy Graham Hughes www.proshotz.com
  |
international stage - is far higher, of course, and we need to step up to that higher level and make the most of the experiences we gain from doing so.
"Being away from home in a team environment, for instance, is one of the real pluses I've experienced so far, together with mixing with different people and cultures, seeing how other countries play, and comparing myself with them and seeing where I need to be and what I need to do to reach that level".
One of Kirsty's most memorable experiences, aside from the unforgettable US tour last October, was her first trip overseas representing New Zealand.
"Tonga was fun - it's the only age-group trip I've been on with NZ, and definitely one of the highlights of my career to date", she says of the 2002 Under-19 Women's World Cup qualifying tournament in the Pacific Island Kingdom, one of four countries to which the R&B and hip-hop music lover has been on her travels.
"My favourite's definitely Australia, which I've visited on Secondary Schoolgirls duties. It's very much like home, but I must admit I'm not one for too much change", smiles the thirteen-time Auckland representative.
Guess that means the prospect of a potential trip to Moscow for the Under-20 Women's World Cup Finals next year doesn't appeal to her too much … "Are you kidding me? I'd love to go there to play for New Zealand! I've no doubt mum (Rosemary), dad (Bruce) and my brother Carl would be delighted to receive a postcard from Russia too!!
"We have to qualify first, though, and hopefully we'll be given the chance to do so. I'd like to play a good role in the team for Russia - indeed, getting into the starting line-ups for the Under-20s, the full national
team and the Blue Devils is my short-term objective at present".
And long-term? "Once I've finished all I can do, in terms of scholarships, etc., I would like to play professionally. That is my ultimate goal. Meantime, I'll settle for the chance to keep playing at the highest level possible for me".
And to think that it all started from kicking a ball around as a seven-year-old while Carl was playing for Lynndale. A lot has happened in twelve years for this fan of Michael Ballach, Ronaldo and Aly Wagner,
including a recent setback.
"I began my first full-time job this year, at a pottery design firm. So my life this year has pretty much been up at 6am, get home at 5pm and immediately head off to training. But being made redundant recently was a
disappointment - it's a life of temping and training between now and when I head to Central Connecticut".
Thankfully, this talented teenager has enjoyed far more success on the football field so far in her young life. And you can guarantee you'll hear and read a lot more about the exploits of Kirsty Yallop in the months and
years to come - she's a class act, as Central Connecticut's Blue Devils are set to discover!
|