Hawke's Bay soccer player Ashley Arquette can't be accused of not making the sacrifices in her quest to make the Young Football Ferns team for the 2014 Under-17 World Cup. The 14-year-old Havelock North High School Year 10 student will leave her family on Saturday to spend terms three and four at the Asia Pacific Football Academy (APFA) in Christchurch.
"It will cost my family $350 a week. But it's a sacrifice we are prepared to make for that goal. Hopefully the experience there will help me secure a scholarship in the United States which is one of my long-term goals," Arquette said.
The midfielder-winger is the first player from Hawke's Bay to be selected for the academy and the second Kiwi girl in the three-year history of the Lincoln High School-based academy, which has an association with England's famous Chelsea club. In its day-to-day operations APFA works closely with Chelsea's UK Academy and its player development programme incorporates key principles and practices from Chelsea's youth programmes.
"It's pretty exciting to be going there at this stage in my football career," said Arquette, who has been playing for six years.
Arquette will get to train on APFA's lush Lincoln pitches under the guidance of Brazilian Giovani Fernandes, the director of football, and Englishman Jess Ibrom, the high performance academy coach. She will continue her secondary education at Lincoln High School but at 2pm each day will switch into soccer mode.
"Depending on the day we can get up to 90 minutes of fitness or skills work. We will get gym work twice a week and we get to play futsal on the indoor cricket pitch," Arquette said.
Because of the small number of girls at the academy Arquette is likely to end up playing in a predominantly male side against under-23 or under-18 teams in Canterbury.
Arquette is no stranger to playing in male teams as one of the three teams she plays regularly for is the Havelock North High School's junior A boys team.
The former Hawke's Bay under-13 and under-15 girls representative has been a member of her school's girls 1st XI for two years and is in her second season with the Maycenvale Misfits women's side, playing during last year's Federation Cup final.
Arquette said she has a lot to thank her father, Chase Arquette, for. He is a former Havelock North player who coaches her 1st XI. He also coaches the Havelock North Wanderers women's team.
"Dad pushes me a lot which is good. He is lucky I won't be there next time his Wanderers come up against our Misfits," she quipped.
Her 1st XI has had one loss to Iona College this season and along with Iona and Napier Girls' High School are ranked among the fancied teams in the Bay's secondary schoolgirls competition.
Arquette singled out former Maycenvale coach Leon Birnie and her former rep coach Craig Barkle as other coaches who have made significant contributions towards her progress in the code. She remembers her first national trial in Palmerston North back in 2010 well.
"I was in the bottom group but I've improved gradually since then. I'm sure going to Christchurch will boost that improvement," she said.
Arquette shines with her distribution and assist skills. She boasts plenty of pace and won the 100m and 200m sprint titles on the way to becoming her school's junior girls athletics champion this year.
Cristiano Ronaldo is her favourite player. Should Arquette follow paths other products of APFA have taken she is likely to find herself playing on fields her hero has played on in future.
But there's plenty of work to be done before then and there's that 2014 World Cup, too. Early indications are she's on the right track for that event.
Arquette will have a more accurate gauge of where she's at come the end of term four.