Football: Friends expect hot time in Tonga

A group of Rotorua footballers are off to Tonga to represent a Coerver Coaching academy team. Pictured are Caramia Ali, 14 (left), Hayley Merriman, 14, Emma Frame, 15, Taelor Pickering-Parker, 16, Danaya McKenzie, 14. Photo/Stephen Parker

A group of Rotorua footballers, who refer to themselves as the Tuahines, are off to Tonga to compete in the beautiful game.

The five-strong group from Western Heights High School were selected during a Coerver Coaching football camp in Auckland to play three matches against the Tongan Under-17 women's side and a Tongan Centre of Excellence squad.

While most of the Rotorua girls have never played overseas, they have had plenty of experience playing together. In fact, they will tell you they have a lot in common on and off the field.

The group attend the same school, hang out together in their spare time and, apart from defender Caramia Ali, 14, share the same position on the field as central midfielders.

"We call ourselves the Tuahines, it means sisters in Maori," Taelor Pickering-Parker, 16, said. "Even off the field we are all really close."

She said it helped a lot playing alongside people you know well, and they were looking forward to playing together in Tonga.

The five friends - Hayley Merriman, 14, Emma Frame, 15, Danaya McKenzie, 14, Caramia and Taelor - will join up with the rest of their Coerver team from the upper-North Island early next month to leave for Tonga.

One challenge they will face when playing in the island nation will be the heat. The girls said they expected the Tongan girls to be really fit and were hoping for overcast conditions to make things a little easier.

The Rotorua group train or play six days a week with various teams including Western Heights High School, Rotorua United and Coerver Coaching.

Emma said the Coerver Coaching academy in Rotorua had helped with their individual skills and confidence.

"It's more technical stuff and skills," she said about the trainings. "It is also confidence, because you know what to do with the ball."

While in Tonga, the Coerver team will gain experience playing in the three international matches.

They will also visit schools on the island, getting involved with the community.

The Coerver team travelling to Tonga was selected from female academy students from Whangarei to Taupo.