‘I love what she’s doing’
All Blacks coach’s tips to star daughter
Michaela Foster is a football captain who came from nowhere and a left back who used to be a winger.
Starting next Saturday, she will lead New Zealand at the Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan, backed by a coach who encouraged her, and a father who knows plenty about high performance sport.
She first made a national team in 2014, when Gareth Turnbull picked her for the national schoolgirls side, which had been assembled with an eye on players who would be eligible for this year’s under-17 event.
Up until that point, Michaela had mostly played in attacking roles, but with talented teenage fullbacks in short supply, a position change beckoned.
‘‘I thought her defensive nous, game understanding, and her grounding as an attacking player would suit us well as a fullback who can get forward,’’ says Turnbull, who has since become the national under-17s coach.
‘‘We gave her a couple of opportunities on that tour, and after that she came to us and said I’m a left back, I want to play left back, I need to learn this position.’’
Since then, Foster has proved herself as the best in the position in the country for her age, and was an easy selection for the under-17 squad that came together for the first time last July, before the Oceania championships and World Cup qualifiers, which were held in January in the Cook Islands.
For that event, Turnbull picked Michaela to be captain, even though she had no previous experience in the role.
‘‘When she says or does something, she leads by example and the group follows,’’ says Turnbull.
‘‘You have to have incredibly high standards and hold yourself to those standards, and be accountable for everything you do, as all the others players are, but you can’t let your guard down and the side down, because you are the front of the group.
‘‘Both in actions and in words, and all the little extra things that no one really sees, she does that.’’
Michaela has now had eight months in the role, dating back to the Oceania championships, where she won the Golden Ball award as player of the tournament.
‘‘It’s an honour enough just being able to wear the fern on my chest, so it’s really cool being able to lead the team out on to the field,’’ she said.
‘‘There’s no need to put myself above others, we’ve got a really good leadership group and we all know our roles and we all help each other. It’s a really good environment to be in.’’
In learning to lead, the 17-yearold She took great pleasure in saying she’s the first Foster to actually play for New Zealand, not just coach them. Hamiltonian has been able to draw on the experience of her father, Ian Foster, who knows plenty about what is required in top-level sport, having captained the Waikato rugby team in the ‘90s, and been an assistant coach with the All Blacks since 2012.
‘‘He’s definitely been one of my biggest influences and inspirations in my sports life,’’ said Michaela of her father.
‘‘He’s been really helpful, especially with the leadership role I’ve been given - he’s had plenty of advice about that, which is cool. I’ve definitely learnt a lot from him.
‘‘He tries to teach me a bit of football, but it doesn’t quite work.’’
While Ian played a record 148 times for Waikato at national provincial level, he was never able to pull on an All Blacks jersey, a fact which has given Michaela the chance to have a little bit of fun.
‘‘She took great pleasure in saying she’s the first Foster to actually play for New Zealand, not just coach them,’’ said Ian.
‘‘I’m a dad first and foremost and I love my daughter and I love what she’s doing with her football, and I just want to support her,’’ he said.
‘‘Every so often, she just gives me a little bit of an opportunity where I’m allowed to say a few things about coaching, but it’s on a permission basis only.’’