New Zealand's Kya Solomon on the ball during the OFC Under-16 Women's Championship match against the Solomon Islands in Suva on September 15 last year. Photo / Kirk Corrie, Phototek.nz
A Lionel Messi shirt set Gisborne-born Kya Solomon on the road to football’s Under-17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
Solomon, 17, is part of a 21-strong New Zealand squad that head coach Alana Gunn has selected for the Cup, which starts this month.
New Zealand are in Group F against 2014 champions Japan (October 20), Paraguay (October 23) and Zambia (October 26). All the team’s group matches are at Mohammed VI Football Academy in Rabat.
Solomon is the daughter of Derek and Nicky Solomon, who moved to Gisborne in 2006 with baby daughter Zoe and started Solomon Realty that year.
Kya was born on July 1, 2008, and lived in Gisborne until she was 12, attending Wainui Beach and Gisborne Intermediate Schools.
Her interest in football was ignited when her dad returned from a work trip to Barcelona with a Messi football shirt for Kya ... images and souvenirs of Barcelona’s Argentinian superstar were being sold “everywhere” in Spain at the time.
“My family didn’t really know anything about Messi or football, but once I got that shirt I just started kicking the ball around and loved it,” Kya told the Gisborne Herald.
“After that, I never really considered other sports. I tried some, but they were never the same. Football is just so creative, and I loved the freedom of dribbling and excitement of scoring. It always brings a different challenge that you have to figure out, and being part of a team makes it even more rewarding.”
Her biggest support are her family.
“They’ve invested so much time and energy into helping me reach my goals – from supporting me through injuries and tough patches to making sure I have the resources I need to perform at my best, and celebrating the wins with me along the way.”
And when Solomon joined the Phoenix women’s Under-18s, her family moved with her to Wellington in January this year.
That made the transition – leaving Hawke’s Bay, where she had attended Woodford House and made some close friends – “so much easier”, she said.
Last year, Solomon made the New Zealand women’s U16 squad which secured qualification for the U17 World Cup.
This year, she is a Year 12 student at Samuel Marsden Collegiate School.
It was a difficult decision to move to Wellington, but she wanted to be in a more professional environment with high-level coaching and players who pushed her every day, she said.
“The intensity has helped me improve my decision-making and ability to play under pressure.”
In July, she was one of 28 players who attended a New Zealand U17 camp, and on August 22 she learned she’d been selected for the World Cup squad.
“I was at school when I got the news, so I had to contain my excitement.”
The make-up of the squad was not announced until last week.
On the club front, the Phoenix U18s finished second in the Women’s Central League, and Solomon also had opportunities to train with the reserves.
Key influences have been two coaches – former All Whites player John Hill (in Gisborne) and Chris Jackson (Hawke’s Bay).
“Their love for the game has been inspiring and the knowledge they’ve passed on has been game-changing,” Solomon said.
Growing up in Gisborne was “so much fun”.
“I loved being so close to the beach, going to Wainui Beach School and Gisborne Intermediate, and being part of such a great community.
“It was also where I started playing football and found my first coach, John Hill. The fundamentals of the game he taught me were so important in getting me to where I am now.”
Hill is a Kya Solomon fan.
“She was playing in the Wainui boys’ team my grandson Ziggy was in,” Hill said. “Kya was a bit shy, and Derek asked me if I’d give her a bit of coaching. I said: ‘Send her along and I’ll see what she’s like.’
“I thought: ‘If she mucks about, I won’t bother.’
“She turned up the first night and I gave her one of [former Gisborne City and New Zealand coach Kevin] Fallon’s fitness tests ... it might have been a 12-minute run.
“I couldn’t believe her attitude. It was one of the best I’ve come across. And you could see at the school sports day that she didn’t like to lose.
“I’d arrange to meet her at the Wainui football ground at 6pm, and if I wasn’t there at 10 to 6 she’d be knocking on my door ... ‘Mr Hill, you are coming, aren’t you?’
“As soon as she finished training, she’d go back to her house and kick the ball against a wall. If the ball didn’t come straight back to her, it wasn’t counted as a good pass.
“One night she wasn’t as sharp as usual, and I asked her dad what was wrong. It turned out she’d just come from two hours of swimming and then band practice. She shouldn’t really have trained.
“She’s shot up since then. She was tiny when she was young, but she was a good goalscorer.
“I told her: ‘Kya, if you keep going like this, you will play for the New Zealand women’s team at some level’.
“And she’s a nice kid. When I’d had a heart attack and she was up with the Napier reserves, she popped into the intensive care unit after the game.”
Solomon would love to play professionally at a high level overseas, but education is also important.
“I plan to go to university somewhere overseas where I can both play and study so I can get a degree while still being focused on my football. I’m not sure yet what I want to study or do as a career, but I’m sure I’ll work it out.”
Selection in the World Cup squad made the move to Wellington worthwhile, she said.
Her parents and sister will be in Morocco, which she said would make it even more special for her.
In an email, Derek and Nicky Solomon said Kya played football from the first opportunity at primary school. She made herself a little poster capturing her vision of herself as a footballer, and her commitment never wavered.
They were “extremely grateful” to John Hill for believing in and encouraging Kya to pursue her dreams.
“In the early days, we had to fight some battles to ensure that Kya was judged on her performance, not her size and gender, and having John believe in her too made a huge difference.”
Kya was lucky to have had Chris Jackson as her first school football coach in Hawke’s Bay, her parents said.
“We are so grateful to Chris for his enormous generosity with his time, advice and support.”
Kya’s parents have a background in sport. Derek was a cyclist and multi-sport athlete who represented Canada in duathlon. He got Nicky into cycling, and she contested – among other events – the Hewlett-Packard International Women’s Challenge in the United States, and the Tour de Snowy international women’s race in Australia, both in 2002.
Kya herself has a “massive work ethic and huge determination”, they say.
“Every achievement is hers to own because she drives her own agenda and manages her time and effort to deliver to it.”
Every match from the tournament will be available to watch live and free on Fifa+, with New Zealand’s games also available on TVNZ.
New Zealand squad: Mikaela Bangalan – Fencibles United (Sancta Maria College); Laura Bennett – Melville United (Rototuna Senior High School); Taylah Byers – Fencibles United (Botany Downs Secondary College); Sienna Candy – Wellington Phoenix (Wellington Girls’ College); Freya Des Fountain – Wellington Phoenix (Upper Hutt College); Heidi Draai – Heidelberg (Berwick College, Australia); Grace Duncan – Tauranga Moana (Otūmoetai College); Nienke Lemmens – AZ Alkmaar (Willem Blaeu College, Netherlands); Charley March – Eastern Suburbs (Westlake Girls’ High School); Emma Meadows – Melville United (Hamilton Girls’ High School); Harriet Muller – Wellington Phoenix (New Plymouth Girls’ High School); Piper O’Neill – Auckland United (Mt Albert Grammar School); Katie Pugh – Wellington Phoenix (Queen Margaret College); Lane Ririnui – Tauranga Moana (Mount Maunganui College); Holly Robins – Wellington Phoenix (Newlands College); Kya Solomon – Wellington Phoenix (Samuel Marsden Collegiate School); Keira Tichbon – San Diego Surf (Cathedral Catholic High School, USA); Pia Vlok – Wellington Phoenix (Mt Albert Grammar School); Ariana Vosper – Auckland United (Takapuna Grammar School); Taylor Vujnovich – West Coast Rangers (Massey High School); Natalie Young – Wellington Phoenix (Cambridge High School).