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2004
Shy Star Amber Is Ready For Arsenal Spotlight
by Jeremy Ruane
Amber heading home against Claudelands Rovers in the 2004 Northern Premier Women's League - photo by Grant Stantiall
When this writer first interviewed Amber Hearn, in October 2003, he encountered a rather shy eighteen-year-old young lady who, when it came to the subject of soccer, preferred to let her feet do the talking on the pitch.
Indeed, such was her desire to refrain from the spotlight that she had to be prompted by her coach, Dave Parkinson, into doing her duty to help promote the women’s game, and even did her level best to avoid having a publicity mug-shot taken!!
Her return from her on-field exploits to that point in time was eye-catching enough - three league championship medals and three national knockout cup winners’ medals with her club, Lynn-Avon United, and a string of goalscoring feats in Auckland and New Zealand age-grade representative matches which would be the envy of the vast majority.
As well, her ambitions were those of someone who had more than a few clues about what she wanted to do in life. "I’ve made enquiries about becoming a police officer recently", she said at the time, "and plan to follow those up after a trip overseas, which I’m anticipating making in a couple of years. But as things stand right now, I’ve pretty much got my life the way I want it".
But the image of that shy, reluctant teenage footballing talent in Palmerston North airport’s departure lounge that day, while waiting for a flight home following another "A Team" victory, was unforgettable.
Ten months on, who on earth could have foreseen the developments which have taken place in Amber’s football career, culminating in the opportunity of a life-time upon which she is about to embark - the chance to play semi-professionally for arguably the most successful English women’s soccer club, Arsenal?
Turning nineteen is probably the only thing to have occurred during that chat which Amber was absolutely certain would happen, but even before that happy event occurred, she received two very welcome boosts to her footballing CV - her first National Women’s Soccer League championship medal, and the inaugural NWSL Player of the Year award.
"That was a huge surprise!", she giggles. "I didn’t even know I was nominated until the day beforehand. In fact, I was having second thoughts about even attending when I was told that I ‘must be there’!!"
It was the perfect ending to what had been an imperfect season for one of the country’s brightest footballing talents, a broken foot having impacted greatly on her ability to perform to the standards she expects of herself for both club and country earlier in the campaign.
"Because of the injury, I missed out on selection for New Zealand’s tour of Texas, followed by the Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign in Canberra. And it hurt to hear all my friends who were part of it saying what an experience it was, knowing that, but for my injury, I could have been enjoying those experiences myself.
"It was a lost opportunity", rues Amber, "and one which made me doubly determined to be named in the squad the next time the national team was called into action".
That next time was in February this year. Within a couple of weeks of breaking the controversial news to the players that their aspirations of appearing at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens were over before they had even begun, New Zealand Soccer received an invitation from their trans-tasman rivals to take part in the Australia Cup.
Given New Zealand’s non-participation in the Olympic qualifiers, and Sweden’s eleventh hour withdrawal meaning a tri-series with China and North Korea was in store, Australia made their move to involve their Kiwi neighbours.
It proved quite timely for the game’s governing body on this side of the Tasman, their decision having already begun to rankle with those for whom seeing their country’s national soccer teams jousting with Australia whenever Oceania qualifying tournaments were scheduled is considered a given.
A squad was hastily assembled, with the number ten jersey to be worn by a nineteen-year-old accountant with a flair for figures, not that this writer initially recognised Hearn’s own much-refined figure upon first sighting her in Brisbane.
At the end of the 2003 season, the after-effects of her foot injury, particularly with regard to her fitness, meant Amber’s compact frame was a touch on the chunky side. But such was her desire to realise her New Zealand ambitions that a close-season chock-full of fitness work, self-sacrifice and calorie-counting had seen a complete transformation in the midfielder/striker.
To describe the 2004 version of Amber Hearn as streamlined is an understatement! She has always been a powerfully built young woman, but defenders were now confronted with a very fit and focused, fast-rising soccer star, fair bristling with determination and resolve, the step-up to the next level in her footballing development set squarely in her sights.
While the first three (of many, we hope) full internationals ended in disappointment for
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Amber and her colleagues, it’s a measure of how well she took that step-up that in just her second international, against China, she produced a performance very reminiscent of New Zealand women’s soccer legend, Amanda Crawford, at her energetic best.
"Since that tournament", says Amber, "New Zealand Soccer has introduced regular Monday night training sessions for the national squad members. I really look forward to them - they’re awesome! As are their plans for the future of NZ women’s soccer".
The combination of these developments at international level meant that when Lynn-Avon made their first appearances of the season, Amber was flying. She has dominated games with her performances, and dominated the scoring charts as well, winning the Northern Premier Women’s League’s Top Goalscorer award by a ten-goal margin.
Add Lynn-Avon’s by-now-customary NPWL championship triumph, and you’re left to wonder what more there is for her to achieve - it’s a far cry from her first days at the club where Amber’s budding talent has been allowed to blossom and fully bloom.
"Hayley Moorwood and I graduated to the first team squad during the 2000 season - we both made substitute appearances in the Uncle Toby’s Final that year. But man, we were scared as of the ‘oldies’ in those early days!!", she chuckles.
"We got the ‘snarks’ (filthy looks), we got yelled at, we were ignored … we got blamed for just about everything! Getting to know them was tough going, but it’s been well worth it, because that’s one of the great things with Lynn-Avon - the backing and support you receive from the players.
"Having people like Terry McCahill behind you, talking you through games … you can’t help but become a better player as a result of learning at first-hand from team-mates who have so much experience to pass on".
The youngest of four children has benefited immensely from such wise counsel, and from the support of a footballing family. "My whole family used to play soccer. My dad took me along to play the game when I was four, and I remember I cried in my first game!!
"But my older brother and two older sisters gave it away, and I’m the only one who’s stuck with it. My family have backed me all the way, and they’re fully supportive of my next move, which is the biggest highlight of all in the last twelve months, without question".
And who could possibly say otherwise, when one of the biggest names in club football the world over is keen to run the rule over you in a month-long trial?
Amber’s next appearances on a soccer pitch will be in the colours of Arsenal FC, the reigning champions of the English women’s game, and as dominant in that area of the world in recent seasons as Lynn-Avon have been in New Zealand over a similar time-span.
Their dominance isn’t total, however. While they won the league and FA Cup double last season, and will contest both those competitions, plus the Premier League Cup and the UEFA Women’s Cup in the 2004-5 campaign, their hopes of a clean sweep of the silverware for this season have already been scuppered!
Charlton Athletic edged Arsenal 1-0 in the FA Community Women’s Shield on August 11, the traditional opening fixture to the women’s season in England. But this minor setback for her new club cannot mask Hearn’s excitement - she’s chattering far more readily than someone whose usual preference is to let her feet do the talking for her!
"This is a dream come true for me - the chance to experience something I’ve wanted to for ages. Mick Leonard, the NZ goalkeeping coach, arranged it for me over the course of the last couple of months, and on August 17, I’m away on a month’s trial".
When asked what her expectations are during her time in ‘Goonerland’, there’s a steely edge in Amber’s reply. "I’m not coming back without a contract", was the determined response of a young lady who knows that her time is nigh.
"I'm going there to extend myself in order to become a better player, something which you can't really do in New Zealand. To do that, I’ve got to give 110% all the way through, and while I know I’ve got the backing of my family and friends, it’s down to me to do it, and realise my ambitions, although it’s going to be tough going, of that I’ve no doubt".
Hearn will be on her lonesome while in London, but that doesn’t bother her greatly. "I’m quite used to being by myself, to be honest. It’s ‘cause I’m the baby of the family!! But my family are thinking of coming over to see me while I’m there, and I’m like ‘No, no, you don’t have to! … Put it this way - I don’t think I’ll be alone there for long!!"
By playing in the English women’s league, Amber is set to follow in the footsteps of New Zealand’s most-capped international, Maureen Jacobson, an English Women’s FA Cup winner while playing for Millwall in the 1980s.
But despite the way her career has burgeoned in the past year, Amber the person hasn’t changed - she’s still as shy as ever, until, as Arsenal will quickly discover, she’s let loose on a football pitch!!
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