The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home
2005 | 2011
2005
Proud Kiwi Set To Take Flight For The Golden Eagles
by Jeremy Ruane
It's a long way from Taranaki to Tennessee, but it's a journey New Zealand women's soccer international Hannah Bromley is about to embark upon, as she
begins a four-year scholarship at Tennessee Technological University in August.
Yet things could have been a great deal different for the six-foot-tall New Plymouth native, as she recalls. “I started out playing hockey, but didn't like it `cause the sticks kept ruining my knuckles and nails!
“Then I switched to playing mini-basketball at Vogeltown Primary School a decade ago. I started kicking the ball at games - it was just natural instinct - and my team-mates didn't like it! So I was told to go and play soccer, and was the only girl playing among the boys. None of my friends wanted to join me, `cause they were too afraid of the boys!!
“At home, I had plenty of space in the backyard to kick a ball around, but along the way, Mum and Dad (Christine and Keith) - two of my biggest influences - had to sacrifice quite a few of their pot plants, not to
mention the odd tap-top! I kept hitting the ones on the swimming pool fence … I wasn't aiming for them - honest!!”
1997 saw this Keira Knightley fan first playing for a club, specifically Merrilands Youth Club, “where I was the only girl in the boys' team - it took the best part of five years to earn their respect!”
It was at Merrilands where she came under the influence of Gary Bence, “one of three coaches who taught me an incredible amount and stood by me all the way through to where I am today.
“Another was Tam McInally at New Plymouth Girls High School, who was in charge for one of my most memorable footballing moments, when New Plymouth
beat defending champions Avondale College at the 2003 National Secondary Schoolgirls Tournament in Cambridge”.
Rounding off this trio is Glen Hooper, who taught Hannah to reach her potential in kicking. He didn't do too bad a job, as the Australian Secondary Schoolgirls will testify following our subject's screamer against
them in the third test last year.
“That was another memorable footballing moment - I'd practised scoring a goal like that versus the Aussies many times in the backyard, so to see it come off in a game against Australia was extra special”, beams this proud Kiwi.
The former Taranaki Under-13 and Under-15 rep, who also made the New Zealand Under-15 Academy Squad in 2001, played for Peringa United as well as her school in 2003, the year in which she was named Taranaki's Junior Sportswoman of the Year.
The following season brought another influential quartet into Hannah's life. “I regularly trained with Richard Burkett, Nick Rush, Phil Bence and Mark Saunders at Peringa, and they made 2004 so much fun. They gave their all on the pitch, and definitely knew how to have fun afterwards”.
The youngest of four children - all girls - has also drawn inspiration from a couple of former New Zealand internationals who she has come across during her time in the `Naki. “Jo Evans set the standards in my eyes - she did everything on the pitch perfectly.
“And as for her pal Pernille Andersen … what an amazing player she was! Together they put on a few training sessions around our area, then played
professionally in Denmark.
“In four years time, once I've completed my scholarship, playing professionally is something I'd like to do, much like what Rebecca Smith is doing now in Sweden, and recently in Germany.
“With Jo, she is right up there in my eyes, as is Maia Jackman. Seeing her at first-hand putting her body on the line every time, be it in training or a game, then winning diving headers in the middle of the park … it's really inspirational”.
|
   below courtesy Tennessee Tech
 |
You can imagine how Hannah felt when the chance came to play alongside two of her female footballing inspirations on the international stage in May. “Oh, man! What a rush of energy just running onto the field! I expected not to have very long on the pitch against Japan, but it was such an amazing feeling! A really good deserved feeling!!
“No way was I going to let anything slow me down, either! I was there to do a job to the best of my ability for my country - I'm a very proud Kiwi at the best of times, but this was so special”.
It's been the outstanding highlight in what is a transitional year for this member of NZ Soccer's Senior Women's Elite International Development Squad, one which she has often found challenging.
“I've come from an environment where training 7-8 times a week then playing twice on the weekend has been a way of life. People used to call me a soccer freak at NPGHS, `cause I just couldn't get enough of it.
“You play better when you're more relaxed, which comes about partly from playing regularly. Right now, I want to improve as a player, but don't feel like you should feel when you're playing for New Zealand, because we're not playing on a regular basis - we're like a club side which doesn't play!
“I wish we could be more like a real team, in the sense that we're benefiting from all aspects of the game, e.g. match fitness, match knowledge, and not just training alone. The more matches we play together, the greater our understanding of each other, and the better our football will be”.
Hannah is currently living in Hamilton, from where she commutes to the thrice-weekly Elite Squad trainings at North Harbour Stadium after completing her day's duties for RGL Ltd. And she's a part-time glamour model too! “I do all sorts of shoots, mainly for overseas. I'm just completing one for Performance Wheels magazine, for instance”.
Little wonder David Beckham is such an influence on Hannah's life. “He's been a big influence on me in many ways - he's a gorgeous looking guy, too!!” she says with no little amount of mischief in her voice.
The work and modelling assignments have gone a long way towards raising the funds for what will be an enormous adventure in the life of the 2004 NZ Secondary Schoolgirls Player of the Year.
“It's always been a huge thing for me to go to the USA and play soccer. I've been looking around for the last four years, and had three offers to head there last year, but couldn't go as I hadn't completed my seventh form
year.
“Among those I spoke to was the coach at Virginia Commonwealth, who wanted an attacking player, rather than a defender like me. But that proved
beneficial for Hayley Moorwood, who has taken up that opening.
“The Virginia coach put me onto a previous assistant at the college, Carrie Proost, who is now well established as the head coach at Tennessee Tech. I got in touch with her, and was eventually offered a four-year scholarship.
“I was very lucky in this regard”, says the freshman. “I hadn't applied for any of the NZ universities, because I wanted to get the best out of good division one university soccer, and I didn't want to follow my three
sisters - Pam, Jo and Rachel - in getting into debt via the student loan system”.
As well as playing for the Golden Eagles, the nickname under which Tennessee Tech teams play, Hannah will be studying human ecology or environmental geology in her new surroundings. “Or perhaps psychology, which I studied at school for the past three years. It's definitely me, that - a very interesting subject”.
If nothing else, New Zealand women's soccer international Hannah Bromley is definitely that!
|