The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home
Playground
“A Big Playground I Haven't Been Able To Go Play In”
by Jeremy Ruane
Following news that Rebecca Smith would be parting company with Sunnana SK, there were no shortage of offers for the services of our intrepid Football Ferns defender, from both sides of the Atlantic as well.
2009 will mark the first season of Women's Professional Soccer, the new US-based league competition which is set to attract the cream of the crop from all around the globe, including, we hope, some of the Football Ferns' finest.
“As a female footballer, you have to find a balance between a good lifestyle and a profession”, says Rebecca. “There are only a handful or two of players who can use football as a profession and retire from that.
“For me, it's not about going where the money is, or going where the most sponsorship is. To me, it's about what feels right - personal satisfaction. The quality of life in general.
“As someone born in Los Angeles, going back to play in the USA would be neat - definitely a great experience. A couple of clubs have contacted me, and I've trained with the LA team as well.
“There's no doubt in my mind that the US league, within the next five years, will be the best league in the world. And I'm pretty confident that they will, eventually, get all the best players, and they'll expand and do very, very well.
“But I don't think it will be the case this year, with just seven teams in the league, and with some of the foreign players they've attempted to recruit via the draft process opting not to be involved”.
Which pretty much narrows the field as to which side of the Atlantic Miss Smith will be plying her trade on in the near future. Her broad smile speaks volumes. Come on, ace, spill the beans!
“Something that's very enticing for me this year is Europe. I love it! I didn't grow up there, so it's something new. It's like a big adventure, a big playground, with all sorts of different languages and totally different cultures, and there are some parts of the playground that I haven't really been able to go play in yet.
“There are so many places in Europe that are just amazing, which you hear about, read about or see. I love travelling, I love meeting new people, and football has opened up those opportunities for me to be able to do that.
“If I went back to the USA I think I'd stay there, go back to school and settle. But I'm not really ready to do that yet. I still feel Europe has some of the best leagues for women, still, and expect that'll be the case for another couple of years yet”.
There are aspects other than footballing ones which have swayed Rebecca's decision. “There are a lot of goals I still have in Europe, e.g. playing in the UEFA Women's Cup. I think it's so neat to be immersed in a different culture, 'cause I think you learn a lot about people, and who you are yourself, too, when you go outside your comfort zone.
“I'm still looking forward to doing something different, and when the time comes that I feel like I don't want to do anything different anymore - I just want to go home and relax and be at home, then I'll probably look to try and play in the USA. Right now, however, it's not where my heart is.
“I've been in Sweden the last three or four years, and played in Germany before that. I`m keen to try something new, whatever it is”.
The offers Bex had on the table were from Damellsvenskan club Djurgarden, and two Frauen Bundesliga rivals, SC 07 Bad Neuenahr - located close to Cologne - and the option she ultimately chose, VFL Wolfsburg.
“They paid me to go out there and see if I liked it, and see if they liked me. So I landed in Berlin on January 21, was picked up by a VFL employee and driven 2.5 hours to Wolfsburg, getting in around 5.15. I met the coach, and the team, then changed into my training
|
|
gear to go for a team run in temperatures of about five degrees!
“During what was an easy jog, the coach and I had a good forty-minute chat, which enabled us to get to know each other and for me to learn about his history as a pro player all over Germany, and get a good first impression.
“The next day, I had to do a lactate fitness test on the treadmill with their sports scientist (also a four-time Ironman finisher!), which proved I ran the furthest in the team, i.e. the fittest! We trained in the indoor hall that evening because they had an indoor tournament - the Hallencup - with all the Bundesliga teams that weekend”.
Before that tournament, Rebecca met with the club's management, who offered her an eighteen-month contract and an invitation to go with the team to Portugal that Sunday for a week-long training camp.
“It was already feeling very professional and organised, and there were a lot of benefits to be had from playing there. So I was leaning towards Wolfsburg, but asked for a day or two to decide.
“Because the team was playing next day, those who weren't involved in the Hallencup tournament ran intervals around one of the lakes in Wolfsburg, which is a fairly green city with plenty of good running places.
“Already I could feel that I was no longer in Australia! The sun had disappeared, the temperature dropped, the tempo increased, and I was having trouble understanding what everyone was saying - four years away from the language will do that! But the girls and the coaches were very open and helpful and tried their best with English, and I did the same with my slowly returning German!”
An hour-long bus trip to Magdeburg the following day for the Hallencup tournament offered Rebecca the chance to watch all the Bundesliga teams in action, and it was during this that she came to her decision.
“Wolfsburg it was! I met with the manager, and the next day found myself on a flight to Portugal for a week-long training camp comprised of eating, sleeping, running on the beach at 7am, two two-hour training sessions each day, and getting to know everyone slowly.
“The team is fantastic! It's a really talented group, which has a nice environment about it, and the longer I'm here, the more pleased I am that I made this decision. There are a number of good players - two current and three recent national team players, plus a couple of potential members of that squad, not to mention five youth internationals.
“In my first game, just two weeks after joining, we drew 2-2 with Duisburg, who we'll play later this year in the German Cup semi-finals. Then we beat Bad Neuenahr 5-0, before taking a 2-0 lead against FFC Frankfurt, only to go down 3-2 to the reigning champions”.
The city of Wolfsburg is also right up Rebecca's street, the severe winter enveloping Europe notwithstanding. “The temperature has been hanging around zero most days, occasionally creeping up to ten. We get a mixture of wind, rain, a little snow that melts quickly, sunshine …
“And there's plenty to do, despite what people say! The Volkswagen factory is the biggest in the world - it's the same size as Monaco! Plus there's Autostadt, designer outlets, and plenty of museums including the Phaeno Museum, where you can do all kinds of experiments and tests.
“Plus there's a planetarium, a concert hall, a water-skiing park, an indoor soccer hall with a huge restaurant bar area, a castle, some nice restaurants and cute cafes, and a little shopping!”
Cafes? Shopping? That sounds familiar. Indeed, it's the cue to bring this interview full circle, and talk about Rebecca's experiences in the city in which this tale is being told, in the final part of this comprehensive interview with our globetrotting Kiwi soccer star.
|
