Central star eyes NZ jersey

SOLE SPOTLIGHT: Rebekah Butters-Chamberlain is the only local girl footballer at Central Federation level and has her last representative game of the summer season against Waikato-Bay of Plenty tomorrow.PHOTO/STUART MUNRO 270315WCSMCHAMBERLAIN1

She is the only local Wanganui football girl to play at Central Football Federation level and Rebekah Butters-Chamberlain has her sights set on a New Zealand shirt or an overseas scholarship.

The 15-year-old will have her last two games of the summer season for the Central Under-16 girls against Waikato-Bay of Plenty in Napier tomorrow.

After playing Under-14s at Central level last season, the winger and occasional defender has had six weekends of game days against federation teams from the other five regions, although they missed out on playing Auckland this summer.

Matt Kilsby, Central's development officer for Wanganui, has been her coach.

"At the start, I was just getting used to it with the older girls, but now he says I'm doing really well," said Butters-Chamberlain.

A regular for her Wanganui High School team, Butters-Chamberlain's elevation has come from ability and hard work, given she does not have the advantage of having other players on that level around her locally.

"I have girls [to train with], but I can't play with them. The others have an advantage with who they work and train with."

Her goal is to get into the National Training Centre (NTC), which will take up to 75 girls across three venues to work towards making national squads.

She would also like to work towards a college scholarship overseas, like her cousin, Paige Hourigan, has in tennis.

Another cousin of the Butters tennis clan, Butters-Chamberlain was a key member of the Wanganui High School team competing at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Tennis Championship finals in 2013-14.

At the start of the month, she was drafted in by her family for Wanganui's successful Christie Cup victory over Manawatu, winning her singles and doubles games - not a bad effort considering tennis is very much her secondary sport.

The Central girls will play Waikato-Bay of Plenty tomorrow morning and afternoon.