Southern View: May 29, 2018

SOUTHERN VIEW Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Tuesday May 29 2018 11
National schools team call-up for Zoe
SPORTS
• By Jacob Page
ZOE MCMEEKEN is making the
right impression in her Halswell
14 premier boys football team,
with both national selectors and
the Mainland Pride taking notice.
Zoe has been named in the
under-15 secondary schools team
to travel to Sydney from July 8-14.
The team will play three games
against New South Wales age
group teams.
She is also part of the Mainland
Pride wider-training squad.
The 14-year-old winger has
been outflanking the boys for the
past three years and said playing
against them had only positive
effects on her game.
“I really enjoy it because they’re
a lot more physical when they go
in to challenge you and I think it
forces me to match it and protect
the ball more,” she said.
The Lincoln High School student
first started playing at age five
in a Rolleston ‘first kicks’ event.
A talented runner and crosscountry
athlete, it wasn’t until year
9 when football became her focus.
“I did enjoy running and crosscountry
and it’s helped me in my
position in football, but I enjoyed
the team aspect of football more
than being an individual in running,”
she said.
Zoe said she has aspirations to
become a Football Fern in the
future but she wanted to make the
most of every opportunity given
to her,
She said training alongside
players she looks up to and who
are twice her age has been a great
experience.
“I’m realistic that I don’t expect
to make the Pride squad this year
since I’m so young but I know the
trainings are making me a better
player,” she said.
As for the boys, they know what
to expect “I’ve been playing for
Halswell long enough that I think
they are used to me by now,” she
said.
IMPACT: Zoe McMeeken (right) looks to have a bright future in the sport after making the New
Zealand under-15 football team and the Mainland Pride wider-training squad.
Cashmere Club to host
Addington gym boxer’s
Golden Gloves’ challenge
POWER PUNCH: Sophie Mullally, with assistant coach Matt
Neale, is eager to make her presence felt at the South Island
Golden Gloves on Saturday.
• By Jacob Page
A SHOULDER injury three
years ago got Addington boxer
Sophie Mullally fixated on the
sport
Sophie has been training with
former national coach Phil Shatford
at Addington’s Riverside
Boxing Gym, and on Saturday
she is set to compete at the South
Island Golden Gloves at the
Cashmere Club.
Sophie said she has always
enjoyed physical sports so boxing
was a natural fit.
“I had a shoulder injury from a
game of rugby and (my dad) said
I should come to the gym and do
some boxing to try to rehab it,”
the former rugby flanker said.
“The shoulder got better the
more I trained with Phil and
then one day he asked if I wanted
to have an actual fight and I
thought I’d give it a go,” she said.
Sophie now has a six win, one
loss record in the under-54kg
class and has given up rugby.
“Boxing is my focus now and
I play a bit of touch rugby for
speed and fitness,” she said.
She said accepting you are
going to be hit in the face from
time-to-time was all part of the
sport.
“When it first happens, you
want to punch them back but, of
course, there’s the technique and
strategy you need to think about
during a round.”
The Templeton resident said
one of the biggest challenges was
finding girls in her weight-class
and age.
“I’m hopeful of a bout at South
Islands, even if I have to box
someone older or in a different
weight class – it’s all experience,”
she said.
Sophie’s aim is to win a national
title at the New Zealand
Golden Gloves event on October
3 at the Hornby Working Men’s
Club.
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