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2005
Ton-Up For Terry - At Last!
by Jeremy Ruane
It is a measure of Terry McCahill's appreciation of the situation, following the shenanigans surrounding the “selection issues” of the “A Team” of 2004, that when asked to comment on her feelings ahead of making her one hundredth appearance for the Auckland women's soccer team this Saturday, her swift three-worded response was, “If I play”.
She wasn't taking the mickey, either. “You can't take anything for granted”, she continued when interviewed on Wednesday evening. “A lot can happen between now and then”.
True enough. But given Terry has been appointed captain of the “A Team” for the 2005 Lion Foundation National Women's League campaign, and has more or less been a permanent fixture in the squad since making her debut way back in 1989, you'd like to think that, all things being equal, after circumstances beyond the control of all but a select few decreed otherwise in last season's ultimately unsuccessful campaign, the script will be adhered to this time round.
On the basis that it will be, the thirty-five-year-old central defender will become just the fourth player in the thirty-three year history of Auckland women's soccer to record one hundred appearances in blue-and-white when she leads her team out onto Seaside Park, Otahuhu, around 2pm on Saturday afternoon to take on Waikato-Bay of Plenty.
In an age in which the nod is frequently afforded youthful exuberance - understandably so, given there are so many budding McGintys with zest aplenty, McCahill has carried on in much the same manner as another of the great gallopers owned by her father Barney, specifically the tried-and-trusted stayer, Castletown, winner of numerous two-mile races, including three consecutive Wellington Cups in the early 1990s.
Terry has gone the distance, time and time again, and while her footballing CV boasts details about cups and championships galore won since 1987 with Eden,
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  photos of Terry on her 100th appearance for Auckland courtesy Shane Wenzlick
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Avondale United, Lynn-Avon United and Auckland, not to mention forty New Zealand caps (and one goal!) and a string of individual honours, what isn't mentioned, but goes hand in hand with all her achievements, is the wealth of experience she has gleaned in her eighteen-year career to date.
“I didn't even know what the game was back then”, she reflects. “I was more concerned with trying not to get my head bitten off for doing things wrong, never mind thinking what I might have achieved eighteen years down the track!
“But as time has passed, I've adopted a very simple philosophy - you take one game, one competition or one year at a time, and just focus on that game or that campaign. Coaches have their own opinions on who should or shouldn't play, so all you can do is turn up, do your best in training, hope you are selected and, if so, do your best in the match itself”.
Sound advice. But it's not all she tells the budding Terry McCahills of tomorrow. “Most of what I tell them on the pitch revolves around my not having to run too much!!”
Joining fellow “A Team” centurions Barbara Cox (120 caps), Michele Cox (112) and Lyn Pedruco (110) affords Terry the chance to reflect on her achievements to date in blue-and-white since Ron Cane first selected her to play for Auckland at the 1989 Nationals in Napier.
“The thing which stands out most is probably playing with so many great players and coaches - there have been lots of different styles. Hard on the heels of that is that I've played against so many quality players, too - I'd rather play with them than against them, though!
“Overall, I can't believe it's that many”, she says ahead of her ton-up appearance for Auckland. And she's showing no signs of stopping yet. “I guess I'll just keep on ticking along, doing my best, while enjoying the experience at the same time”.
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