For someone in my position - a guy who's endeavouring to provide as much coverage and publicity for women's soccer as possible, it goes without saying that a great deal of single-mindedness is required to do justice to the role. Think about it for a moment - I spend the best part of two hours on a Sunday morning (and, occasionally, on floodlit midweek evenings) monitoring the actions of a number of athletic young women playing the beautiful game (no pun intended!), and it's fair to say that I'm going to find a few of said lasses to be far from unattractive!! There is the obvious temptation after a match to strike up a conversation with one of them, etc., and hope that one thing will lead to another ... But I'm not there for that purpose - I'm there to do a job for the girls, and it's a role upon which they are heavily reliant, as without it, they would get no, or next to no, publicity whatsoever. Decisions, decisions ...!! Hence the need for single-mindedness!! Of course it's not easy, and hasn't been since I first started following the women's game in 1987, and reporting on it in 1991. I can honestly say that, in all the years I've been covering the women's game, while I'll happily admit to having taken a couple of players out to dinner on occasions in order to conduct interviews for articles, and fired off a few bouquets to certain players to mark birthdays and other occasions, I've never made any attempt to take advantage of my position for, shall we say, l'affaires d'amour! That's a boast I'm very proud of, and while it's to my personal detriment, it would be totally unprofessional of me were I to do otherwise, as far as I'm concerned, as it would result in a near-instant erosion of the trust which the girls have been able to establish with me over a number of years. Of course, I wouldn't be human if, in all the years I've been covering women's soccer, I hadn't established a few friendships which transcend the boundaries of the football field. One of these is with a player who, nowadays, is regarded as one of the country's best of any generation, gender notwithstanding. I remember when Maia Jackman first turned up in Auckland - in 1992, and as raw as raw could be was she!! I have a vivid recollection of a night game at Mt. Smart, between Eden and Glenfield Rovers late that season, when she got absolutely hammered in one challenge, and went down in agony, eventually being stretchered off in tears ahead of a visit to the Accident & Emergency ward for an x-ray. Despite the promising youngster being genuinely injured, I distinctly remember the words "low pain threshold" being muttered by someone standing near me on the touchline ... It was a very harsh comment back then, and one I've never forgotten, because there was no way I could associate it with the tears Maia was shedding on that occasion - they certainly were not of the crocodile variety!!

photo by Graham Hughes / www.proshotz.com And compared to nowadays - it's a charge you wouldn't even dream of directing at Miss Jackman, given how she regularly plays through the pain barrier for the cause!! I don't hesitate to admit that, over the years, "MJ" has been one of a handful of women who has most inspired me to continue to do what I do for women's soccer. She's a bona fide member of "Jerry's Angels" - bugger Charlie's version!! Every once in a while, often when it's least expected, yet most needed, I'll receive from Maia a pick-me-up text message or a small token of her appreciation for what I do for the game. She just seems to know when I need some inspiration - the timing is almost uncanny!! Similarly, whenever she needs a boost, I'm only too happy to offer some words of encouragement, and they are invariably gratefully received, and seem to do the trick ... I can only think we're kindred spirits!! Maia's achieved a helluva lot more than most people manage in their footballing careers, and that she continues to be so positive and dynamic says mountains about her character, for me at least. Another aspect of her character I really admire may well sound familiar - her single-mindedness!! It took a lot of guts to leave her home town of Kerikeri for Auckland in 1992, then to move from Lynn-Avon to Three Kings in 1998 - a small-scale version of Sol Campbell switching from Tottenham to Arsenal, if you like! Then, of course, the big step into the unknown - playing in China. Some of the other imports simply couldn't bring themselves to adapt to their new environment - no prizes for guessing who did, even though it was anything but easy!! I have an immense amount of admiration and respect for Maia, for, as well as her undoubted footballing ability, she is a smashing person, and someone I hold in the highest regard as a much-trusted, much-valued and - no, I'm not afraid to admit it, even though I know I shouldn't - a much-loved friend. Like anyone, I have a number of good friends, and a few best ones. Maia Jackman will always be a friend I regard as one of the very best I have. Jeremy Ruane, December 2004