Football: Pair visit top UK clubs on coaching tour

GLOBAL VIEW: Rotorua's Helen Talbot has just returned from a tour of England with the Coerver Coaching Anzac team. PHOTO/BEN FRASER 181013BF8

Being coached by Chelsea, Fulham, and Tottenham staff was all part of the experience for up-and-coming footballers Helen Talbot and Mianna Laing, both 17, during a trip to England.

The Rotorua pair represented the Coerver Coaching Anzac team during a football trip in the recent school holidays.

Helen said they were selected for the Anzac team during a football camp in Canberra earlier this year.

"From there they chose a team for our age group," she said.

"Most the players were from Australia and three of us were from New Zealand."

She said the culture in England was something to take in, with football fields instead of rugby fields scattered across each town.

Helen, a Rotorua Girls' High School student, said they played four games against English opponents.

"We won all four games. The third game was the toughest, the team we played had not lost in four years," she said.

"We played pretty well in that game. We actually played pretty well in all the games considering we had never played together."

Mianna Laing

She said she and Mianna both played at the back for most of the tour, but both managed to get on the score sheet.

When the girls were not playing matches they were training at facilities near London.

She said they trained at facilities owned by Tottenham, Fulham, and Chelsea with academy staff taking each session.

She said some of the facilities were unbelievable, including a large dome at the Tottenham grounds which featured indoor pitches.

"They were good trainings. They put it more to our level but made it challenging."

The two Rotorua girls received top awards on tour, with Helen winning the coach's award for best player on tour and Mianna winning the player's player award.

The pair also represented the successful Rotorua United women's team this year which won all three competitions they contested.

Helen thanked Don Hammond for his support in raising funds to go on tour.

Coerver Coaching is a football coaching academy where budding young footballers can grow their skills.