Main’s mental toughness pays off
St Oran’s College footballer Emma Main shows just what can be achieved on the football field when passion, motivation and mental toughness are combined.
The 17-year-old, who has played in her first XI since year seven and the Upper Hutt club’s women’s team since she was 14, was identified in 2015 as a player of great promise and was selected for the under-17 New Zealand development team.
Just a year later she represented New Zealand at the Under-17 World Cup in Jordan.
‘‘It was an amazing feeling to be there, and to win against the host team,’’ said Main.
Main has been playing football since she was four. So what influenced her to start playing?
‘‘I don’t know, I guess it wasn’t too girlie, and my Dad wanted me to play.’’
Main believes that to be a great footballer you need both passion and motivation.
‘‘You have to love the sport. You’re not going to go far if you don’t enjoy yourself while you’re there. You have to have a lot of mental strength on and off the field, but, of course, you also need the physical strength to do your part.’’
Emma said her family and other role models had played a big part to her success.
‘‘My Dad comes to almost every game I play in Wellington and Mum comes to as many as she can. Dad yells a lot at me from the sideline. I don’t really like it at the time but afterwards I’m glad. I understand he’s just giving me good advice.’’
She cited the important contributions of her Upper Hutt coach, Wendi Henderson, and fellow player Sarah Gregorius, both former Football Ferns.
"You have to love the sport. You're not going to go far if you don't enjoy yourself while you're there." Emma Main
‘‘I look up to people like Wendi and Sarah a lot. They help me because they know what I’m going through.’’
Gregorius, 29, like Main also a wide forward, only recently retired from the Football Ferns and returned to her home club of Upper Hutt for this season, which starts on Saturday. She scored 25 goals during her 82 internationals for New Zealand over six years.
Gregorius started playing football at about 11 she recalls. ‘‘It was a social thing at first and I fell in love with the sport after that.’’
She advised Main, and other young girls, that it was important to figure out early on what you’re playing for.
‘‘Instead of waiting for external validation, make it an internal thing. Know why you’re playing and who you’re playing for.’’
When asked what made a great footballer, she said: ‘‘It’s one thing to be a good player but to be a great player is hard work.’’