A broken leg won’t stop him
Top young footballer Jaeden Shaw is not going to let a broken leg get in the way of his sporting career.
The Palmerston North Boys’ High School first XI captain and striker toured the United States with the New Zealand under-19 team earlier this year, but broke his leg while playing club football on Saturday.
The 17-year-old broke his tibia in a tackle while playing against Palmerston North Marist Reserves and will be in a cast for a while before he can start his rehabilitation.
Shaw wants to return to the US on a scholarship so he can play football once he finishes school this year.
On the New Zealand side’s tour of Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose, the New Zealand under-19 team played six games, having three wins, two losses and a draw.
‘‘That was an awesome experience, something I will never forget,’’ he said. ‘‘It was really good to go over there and just test myself at an international level.’’
They played three university teams and three academy teams, so it was a faster level of competition and the players were bigger than what Shaw is used to in New Zealand.
Shaw started all of the games except one, and while the striker didn’t find the back of the net, he received good feedback from the national coaches.
Shaw and Thomas Wagner, from Masterton’s Rathkeale College, were the only players selected from outside the main centres.
Shaw is also a school prefect and deputy house captain at Boys’ High. He is keen on his academic work, but football takes up most of his time.
He has played 105 games for the first XI, having been in the team for four years.
The Boys’ High first XI have been having a good year – they are top of the Horizons Premiership club competition and have been in good form at interschool level. They were third at the recent Super 8 tournament, losing only one game.
‘‘It’s just a matter of we’re all quite close in the team. Although we’re all good individually, we all play as a team. We back each other. We play for each other and we talk quite a bit on the pitch.’’
Shaw was keen to thank his parents, Amanda and Thomas, for the support during his career.