‘It’s helped me deal with the pressure’
How being a golf prodigy helps Ben Old with his Nix dreams
Ben Old been agonising over his sporting future.
The 18-year-old attacking midfielder was first gifted a golf club aged 2 and was deemed a prodigy at the sport by the time he was 10 – but after enjoying a breakout season in the national men’s Premiership he has his sights set on winning a professional contract with Wellington Phoenix, hoping to follow in the footsteps of Sarpreet Singh, Liberato Cacace, Ben Waine and Sam Sutton.
‘‘I set goals at the start of the year and I said I really want to get a first-team contract,’’ the former New Zealand under-17 international said. ‘‘That’s my main goal at the moment.
‘‘Before they went over to Australia I was starting to train with them and almost in full time which was really good, but then obviously when they went over it meant I couldn’t train with them at all.
‘‘But I’ve just had to deal with that and just make sure I perform in the national league so when they do come back I get that training spot again.’’
He is certainly doing that. The Aucklander provided another glimpse of his potential during last Sunday’s 5-2 defeat to Team Wellington, scoring the opening goal for the Phoenix reserves, before setting up the second with a sublime pass through two defenders.
He now has three goals and three assists from nine games and has emerged as one of the most exciting young players in the competition — someone who could potentially make the step up to the A-League.
‘‘Last season I got a few starts, so that was obviously a good experience, but this year was a big year for me where I would be starting most games, and I really need to be one of those big players in the team ... at the moment I feel like I’m doing that, but I really just need to keep going,’’ he said.
‘‘Last season I felt like I had a good season, but I felt like I wasn’t getting the goals and the assists, so that’s definitely good that I’m getting more and I just want to keep pushing for more.’’
Old has spent the past three years at the Wellington Phoenix Football Academy after following coach Paul Temple to the capital and is currently in his second season in the national league. But football wasn’t his first love. Growing up, the former Scots College student’s dream was to become a pro golfer.
Born into a golf-mad family, Old was gifted his first putter when he was just 2 and weekends away at the family bach in Omaha Beach would always involve a round at the local golf club.
‘‘We’ve got a bach and it’s right next to the golf course so I was sort of born with it. I started when I was really young, like 2-years-old, and I’ve pretty much played my whole life.’’
He was quite the golf talent. Old competed at his first international tournament when he was only 7, travelling to the United States to play against other child prodigies from around the world in Las Vegas, Pinehurst and San Diego.
He said that experience has helped him to deal with pressure when playing in the national league and at the Under-17 World Cup.
‘‘When I was over in the States, it was definitely a time when I thought I could actually do something with golf, but after coming back, I just enjoyed football a lot more so I decided to go down that route.
‘‘Going over there and all the pressure and playing on the world stage, I think that really helped [my football], especially now in the national league, the highest league in New Zealand, it’s helped me deal with the pressure.’’
Although golf has taken a back seat to his football career in recent years, Old hasn’t given up the game completely. He said he tried to get a couple of rounds in every week, usually the day after matches.
But for now he is striving to achieve his goal of becoming a professional football player and is hoping to catch the eye of Phoenix first team coach Ufuk Talay through his performances with the reserves. ‘‘Hopefully ‘Uffie’ has seen in my progress and as long as I keep that up, that goal isn’t too far away,’’ he said.