Flying visit pays off for family of Ferns star
Kyle Wisnewski grabbed his computer and booked flights to Uruguay as soon as goalkeeper Anna Leat’s penalty struck the back of the net.
The older brother of New Zealand striker Grace Wisnewski was not in Colonia del Sacramento for the quarterfinal between the Young Football Ferns and Japan. He was watching the game from their family home in Hamilton, 10,300km away.
The 16-year-old said she was not confident of getting game time at the Under-17 Women’s World Cup, so the Wisnewski family decided against travelling all the way to Uruguay for the tournament.
But once New Zealand beat Japan 4-3 on penalties, guaranteeing the team two more fixtures, they had a change of heart. Grace was playing a key role, starting in three of their first four games, so Kyle convinced his parents to go. They quickly arranged leave from work and booked flights from Auckland to Montevideo that night.
‘‘As soon as they made the semifinals I told my parents ‘you’ve got to go, it’s a once in lifetime opportunity and you don’t want to miss it’,’’ he said.
The spur-of-the-moment decision was rewarded when they watched Grace score the two early goals, including the fastest in tournament history, after 15 seconds, in New Zealand’s 2-1 win in the thirdplace playoff against Canada yesterday.
Kyle said it was ‘‘the best decision ever’’.
It was a special moment in the young player’s career but even more so with her family there to witness it, Grace Wisnewski said.
‘‘I thought it was a dream [when they arrived]. I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked. I just saw this person running at me and I didn’t even know it was my dad. It was incredible,’’ she said.
Grace described New Zealand’s history-making journey, achieving the country’s first medal at a World Cup, as ‘‘incredible’’. She said the goal was simply to win one game. They ended up winning four.
‘‘We just took each game as it came but to be able to say that we kept creating history is just incredible. We came third and brought home a medal. It means so much to us.’’
‘‘To be able to say that we kept creating history is just incredible.’’
Grace Wisnewski