Southern View: April 13, 2023

Thursday April 13 2023 7
The footballing
lifestyle – and
a taste for coffee
BIG FUTURE: Zoe McMeeken’s busy off-season will
include a New Zealand under-20 camp, playing for
the Phoenix Academy and possibly finding a cafe job.
Below – McMeeken played for Halswell United before she
debuted for the Wellington Phoenix in 2021.
• By Jaime Cunningham
FOR ZOE McMeeken, football is
a lifestyle. She lives and breathes
the sport everyday and struggles
to name anything she enjoys
more – except maybe coffee.
“I guess a hobby is drinking
coffee? Everyone knows I like it a
lot, I kind of have a caffeine addiction,”
she said.
The 19-year-old former
Halswell United player is
currently taking a two-week
break from football following the
end of the Wellington Phoenix’s
second A-League season, which
finished with a 2-2 draw against
the Melbourne Victory a week
ago. McMeeken was the team’s
youngest squad member in their
inaugural season and started in
all but one of their games. She
was one of 13 players to sign on
for a second season with the club.
It was also the first season
the team could play their home
games at Wellington’s Sky
Stadium after the Covid-19
border restrictions prevented
any games being played outside
Australia last season.
“It was so much better. The
support from all the fans and
our families made such a great
atmosphere,” she said.
Although the Phoenix finished
at the bottom of the table for a
second year, McMeeken said
their draw, two wins and some
close losses over the last month
were promising signs going into
their third season.
“Compared to last year,
everyone in the team felt like we
were more competitive,” she said.
One of McMeeken’s highlights
was last month’s 1-0 win over
A-League leaders, Sydney FC on
March 11 – which also happened
to be her birthday.
“We beat Sydney, who are
one of the league’s top teams (in
Sydney), which was pretty cool.
It was such a good birthday,” she
said.
Over the last six months
McMeeken has been based in
Wellington.
“Moving to Wellington was
a big change, but I’m a lot more
used to it now.
“If my parents had a choice
they’d want me back here a lot
more though.”
The young fullback is staying
with her parents’ in Lincoln for
another week before travelling
to Auckland for an under-20
Football Ferns camp. After that,
it’s back to Wellington to play for
the Phoenix Academy until the
A-League re-starts in October.
Between her football duties,
she’s looking forward to watching
the Football Ferns play at home
in the FIFA Women’s World
Cup, which runs from July 20 to
August 20.
She hopes to play for the
Football Ferns one day. “I know
quite a lot of them playing now,
so I will definitely make my way
to the games,” she said.
Although she hasn’t extended
her contract with the Phoenix for
another year yet, McMeeken is
keen to continue playing in the
A-League.
“I’m planning to stay in the
A-League. I love all the coaches
and players at the Phoenix so
we’ll see.
“I just want to become more
of a consistent starter and make
a team over in Europe one
day,” McMeeken, who named
Barcelona’s Lucy Bronze as her
favourite player.
“The Women’s Super League
is growing so much and to see
(50,000 people) at one of the
games recently was just insane.”
She has come a long way
from playing for Halswell and
Selwyn United boys’ teams in her
younger years, which McMeeken
really enjoyed.
“A lot of my coaches
recommended playing with
boys,” she said.
“I really liked playing with
them because they really cared
for me but I quite enjoyed
tackling them too.”
McMeeken is hoping to be
selected for next year’s FIFA
Under-20 World Cup, although
the tournament venue and dates
are still to be confirmed.
In the meantime, McMeeken
will be searching for a job in
Wellington in the off-season
while she plays for the academy
team and finishes studying a
psychology course this semester.
“This year (the contract) was
enough to fund everything it
needed to,” she said.
And if McMeeken lands the
job she has in mind, it doesn’t
look like her coffee addiction will
be ending anytime soon: “It’ll
probably be something to help
with my social skills, like maybe
a cafe.”
Get your school holiday trim at...
Preschool ............................ $15
Primary School .................$20
High School ........................$24
Uni Students Male............$26
Uni Students Female ......$30
Student Re-Style ..............$35
Get the latest style cuts during the school holidays
for your children and for yourself at the same time
by our fully qualified stylists.
Loyalty Card: every
8th haircut is FREE
Pensioner and
student discounts
Open 7 Days - no appointment necessary
South City 555 Colombo St. Ph 03 366 0619
Bush Inn Cnr. Riccarton & Waimairi Rds. Ph 03 348 7008