Two Northland students have been selected to represent New Zealand in a sport most New Zealanders haven’t even heard of.

The Otamatea High School pair were spotted by talent scouts during a first XI girls soccer game and were singled out to play the unconventional indoor sport, futsal, in the Under-16s Australasian Futsal Tournament.

The girls, Amberley Watson and Stephanie Hoffman, both 14, said the invitation to play for the Vikings under-16s in Melbourne in October came completely out of the blue.

“It was so random. I just got a letter in the post inviting me to be part of the team.

I hadn’t even played futsal before,” Amberley said.
Amberley has played soccer for 10 years but is looking forward to playing the harder, faster version in the three-day tournament.

“Futsal is a more challenging sport than soccer. It was such an honour to be picked to represent my country,” Amberley said.

The randomness of the invitation was what stunned the girls but both are looking forward to tackling the tournament head-on.

Teams from Australia and New Zealand will compete in the event.

Although the girls were selected over thousands of other teenagers throughout the country they have to fund their own trip.

Source : The Northern Advocate
By : Eleanor Woods
Published : 25/7/2008