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2010
"Gregors" Part Of The Football Ferns Family At Last
by Jeremy Ruane
It’s been a long time between drinks for Sarah Gregorius, at least when it comes to representing her country.
Making her debut then scoring a hat-trick for the Football Ferns in their first two games at the 2010 OFC Women’s Nations Cup tournament marked four years since she last sported the silver fern on the international stage, as a member of the Junior Ferns squad at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Finals.
 "That was crazy", recalls the 23-year-old, who started all three matches in the Finals against Australia, Russia and Brazil. "It’s all a bit of a blur now, to be honest, but I’ll never forget it.
"I remember the send-off that we had and everything associated with it, and it seemed like we were away for such a long time. It was all so exciting. I mean, when in your life would you ever end up in Russia?
"And we went to The Netherlands first - it was just so amazing, so cool", smiles Sarah on reflection, something which she’s had plenty of time to do, given she hasn’t represented New Zealand since that tournament.
"It’s certainly been a long time coming, with injury and things like that". At which point the conversation instantly turns to the blow which sidelined ‘Gregors’ for the best part of the last twelve months, and prevented her from making her Football Ferns debut in 2009.
"I’d been named in the Football Ferns squad for the Japan tour, so you can imagine how thrilled I was by that. About ten days beforehand, the National Women’s League kicked off, and I was playing for Capital Football.
"I just jumped for a far post header, which I was never going to get, of course, ‘cause it was a million miles over my head! Then I landed and my knee just buckled, in to out, really quickly, after which I tumbled off the field. That was the end of me for that game".
The nature of the injury wasn’t initially picked up, however. "I didn’t show the traditional signs of a serious ACL injury, and I think that, plus a bit of determination and ignorance on my part, with wanting to go away …
"I went with the squad to Japan, and kept running, kept going, things like that. But in the penultimate training session before the Japan game it completely gave out, and it was obvious something pretty serious was afoot.
"The day we got back from Japan, I went to see NZ Football’s doctor, Tony Edwards, and he said, ‘I’m sorry to say, but I think you’ve completely blown your knee out’. That was that! A few weeks later, I was under the knife for surgery, and the rest is history".
It was a sad way for Sarah to end the year, and her
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career with Lynn-Avon United, with whom she’d enjoyed a fair bit of success in her four seasons at Ken Maunder Park, including scoring in the 2006 National Women’s Knockout Cup Final, and winning it again in 2008.
 "I think the highlight would have been last year, when we did the double - won the cup and the league, the latter for the first time in four years. Maybe we didn’t have the strongest team in the league but we just fought for each other.
"It was just brilliant. If you’ve got that going for you, then you’re kind of unstoppable. As well, the camaraderie at Lynn-Avon is a little bit legendary now. It was just so much fun. You had sore cheeks from laughing so much".
The big grin which accompanies that remark betrays Sarah’s role as one of the chief merry-makers during her time at what, for the best part of the last two decades, was a truly great team, one invariably thereabouts when the silverware was being presented, so sustained was their period of dominance.
Her ACL injury put an end to her Lynn-Avon days, however, and for eight months it was hello rehab! "You have to get on with it and do it", philosophises the jet-heeled goal-getter.
"The worst part is definitely watching. I would hate to be a coach, and have to do that all the time. The feeling of helplessness, being on the sideline, is not fun. The long hours in the gym and the small stepping stones in the recovery process are hard, but watching is just as painful".
A change of scenery aided the process, however, and when she next kicked a ball in anger, she was sporting the teal and royal blue of Three Kings United, Lynn-Avon’s arch rivals.
"It’s funny how fierce it is", says one of very few players who have donned the colours of both clubs over the last two decades. "I’m originally from Wellington, and I don’t even think in the capital there’s a rivalry that’s similar. It is really strong.
"You do get a different sort of nervousness and a different sort of excitement before those games. I don’t really know why. It doesn’t matter whether it’s cup or league or anything. There’s just something about Three Kings versus Lynn-Avon, and it seems to bring out the best in a lot of people as well. It’s pretty special".
Not quite as special, though, as making your full international debut in a FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying fixture against Vanuatu, some four years after last representing New Zealand.
"I’m so stoked to be here finally. Now I feel officially a part of the club, a part of the crew and the whole Football Ferns family. You grin when you think about it", says Sarah Gregorius, "‘cause it just means the world. I guess you can’t really put that feeling into words, can you?"
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