India proves an eye opener for Taupō ’s Young Fern
Sights and sounds add to the experience
Taupō teen Charlotte Eagle is in India as part of the Young Ferns football team contesting the Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup. The 16-year-old is rising up the ranks of women’s football at a rapid rate and says she is enjoying the experience in India, despite picking up an injury which has sidelined her.
“The whole campaign has been amazing. Not only India itself, but the build-up to get here has been such an amazing experience, and I feel so privileged to be part of it.”
She says the squad has experienced a few challenges, not the least of which is the humidity.
“Recently I got injured, which has been super challenging mentally and physically, but I’m lucky to be surrounded by a very supportive group of girls and coaches.”
Charlotte boards at Hamilton Girls’ High School and plays for Melville United AFC, and says she was pacing the floor of her hostel waiting for the news of who made the team last month.
“When I opened the email I literally screamed and rang my mum straight away, telling her to look at the email.”
The team is based in Goa, and it has definitely been a culture shock so far, albeit an enjoyable one.
“There’s lots of stray dogs everywhere, cows walking through the middle of the streets, millions of mopeds — but the colours are so beautiful.
“The smells and the sights are all so unfamiliar, which makes it so much cooler. When it comes to the training atmosphere, the fields are amazing, and the stadiums are beautiful.”
She is learning a lot from the experience, not only in India, but also building up to the World Cup.
“All the coaches are amazing, and have helped with my development as a player and impacted my football journey so much.
“Being here is super motivating, but being here and being injured — even though it’s gutting — is even more motivating.
“This is a big step in my career, but also only the start, and I know that my comeback, both mentally and physically, will be even stronger.”
The team had a pre-tournament friendly against Canada, “which was an awesome experience especially because it was our first international game as a team”, and were also due to play Chile on Wednesday morning.
Charlotte says India is such an interesting place where so many strange things happen, “but the locals are all so casual about it”.
“The amount of cows and random animals walking through the middle of the street is crazy.
“Honestly, our team never has a dull moment and we’re always laughing, especially during team bondings and outings.”
Head coach Leon Birnie says it is a talented squad with good depth across all positions.
“We’re really excited to see them make their mark on the world stage.”
There are two goals for the team this tournament, he says.
“Our purpose with this age group is to develop players and enable them to get experience against some of the best in the world in their age group.
“This will help them to develop so that in the future, they can make that step up to the U-20s and Ford Football Ferns.
“The second goal, that the players have identified for themselves, is to get out of the group and be the second-ever New Zealand team to progress beyond the group stage at this tournament.”