Morton’s risky move south paying off
HIGH school recruits do not get much better than Rose Morton.
The firstyear student has been to two agegrade football World Cups.
Last week she helped New Zealand qualify for next year’s under20 Cup — her second in the agegroup.
A day after returning she debuted for Southern United in a 60 win over Central, her old team, in its national women’s league season opener.
It is a classy CV for the defensive midfielder, who will line up against WaiBOP in Cambridge tomorrow.
There was a time when such a player would have been hard to lure to Dunedin.
But that has changed. University was her reason for the move.
But the chance to play for last year’s Kate Sheppard Cup champion Dunedin Tech side was attractive.
Southern’s improved standing over the past two seasons had helped too.
Being awarded a Football South high performance scholarship made her decision.
It is something she has not regretted.
‘‘I was thinking of going to
main
Auckland or Dunedin,’’ she said.
‘‘But I moved up to Auckland for football last year and realised I hated Auckland, so Dunedin was kind of my other option. I just went on a limb and came here.
‘‘I’ve loved it. It was a bit of a risk, but it was a great reward, so I’m very happy.’’
Morton grew up in the central Hawke’s Bay town of Tikokino and followed her siblings into football.
Her brother Harry went the United States on a football scholarship and now lives in San Francisco.
Meanwhile her sister Sarah was a member of the Football Ferns squad that played at this year’s Women’s World Cup.
They had proven influential in driving her and it had been a thrill to play with Sarah at last year’s under20 World Cup.
‘‘I do look up to them quite a lot. ‘‘We’re quite competitive in a friendly way, so that’s good.
‘‘We were always in the backyard kicking a ball around.
‘‘My sister going for runs and doing fitness would always make me feel bad if I wasn’t, so it’d
❛ It was a bit of a risk [moving south] but it was a great reward, so I’m very happy.’’
always motivate me in that way.’’
Morton was enjoying her time in Dunedin and loved the culture of the team and the city.
The club’s setup accommodated her doubledegree in law and science well too.
That doubledegree will be good news for Southern fans, too — it means she is planning to be here for five years.
For now Morton’s focus is on WaiBOP, which lost its opener to Auckland 30.
‘‘I think they’ll be a real good match for us. They’ve got a few young players like Grace Wisnewski and Lisa Evans, really good players,’’ she said.
‘‘It’ll be fun going up against them, see where we sit and I hope we can push through and win this weekend and it’ll set us up for a great season.’’