Futsal: Anya Gross, Leah Botica in Northern side for nationals

Anya Gross (left) will represent Northland at the Futsal National Women's League. Photo / John Stone

Northlanders Anya Gross and Leah Botica will be looking for tournament spoils at the Futsal National Women's League.

The competition runs from February 23-25 in Wellington and a balanced Northern squad hopes to clinch the title.

Gross said they had made the most of the limited buildup so far.

"I'm looking forward to the tournament very much," she said.

"Preparations with the team have been very good. Even though we haven't had much time together as a full squad, we have really started to connect well as a group.

"We are starting to become comfortable playing with one another, and we are all working hard to iron out some of our weaker areas in play."

Gross is a relative newcomer to the futsal code despite 12 years of footballing experience.

The 17-year-old said taking up the new code had been an adjustment.

"This is my first futsal tournament," she said.

"I have played football for the past 12 years, and only started futsal at the end of last year when I joined a team to play in the local semi-social futsal league.

"The toughest part about transitioning from football to futsal is the amount of time you have to make choices.

"I find that during a futsal game you have much less time to think, act, and react to game plays than during a football match."

Northern will face stiff competition at the national competition with a raft of Futsal Ferns lining up to play.

This includes Northern's Hannah Reddy, who was a member of the inaugural New Zealand under-18 women's futsal side that claimed gold at the OFC U18 Futsal Championships and secured a spot in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Northern coach Hayley Stirling said it their nearest geographical rivals would give them their biggest headache at the upcoming tournament.

"Auckland Football Federation (AFF) Futsal will be the favourites," Stirling said.

"They've got a pretty solid squad, and not only do they have the services of a number of Futsal Ferns but they also have the Futsal Ferns head coach Nic Downes leading them.

"Mainland and Central will also be strong, but in a tournament like this, anything can happen so we'll put our best foot forward to get ourselves in the mix."

Gross agreed with her coach about the threat of Auckland at the national competition but that won't take away from their team goals.

"Our biggest competition during the tournament would be AFF," she said.

"They are a strong squad with a big pool of talented, experienced players.

"Our teams goal is to do the best we can during the competition, to take each game as it comes, and to give 100 per cent during each match."

Northern's preparation ramps up this weekend with a friendly match against AFF Futsal.

The match kicks-off at 4:30pm at the Pulman Arena in Papakura.

Northern Squad: Bernadette Goulding, Hannah Reddy, Jo Lamozza, Helena Wiseman, Casey Klyn, Shania McIntosh, Leah Botica, Anya Gross, Ashleigh Patton, Hayley Hedges-Fickling, Amy McQuiod