He immediately became a regular at the heart of the defence in the 1985 team who finished second in the National League, and even when Fijian international Stan Morrell joined the squad the following year, Neal Phillips held his own in the competition for places and played for the All Whites in an internal-tour game against a regional selection in Wanganui.
He won a Chatham Cup winner’s medal with Gisborne in 1987 and, with Rotorua City, a runners-up medal in 1989.
The son of Brian and Glad Phillips, now of Raumati, Neal had gone to Makaraka, Gisborne Intermediate and Gisborne Boys’ High schools, representing Poverty Bay through the age groups.
His last year as a player was in 1991, at Papakura, with former All White and future national coach Ricki Herbert. Then he concentrated on a career in the police.
These days he is in the investigation support unit of the police, based in Palmerston North and covering an area that also takes in Wanganui and Taranaki.
Aptitude for footballAmber’s aptitude for football was apparent from an early age.
“She was playing with a football from the time she was five,” Neal said.
“Her elder brother, Isaac, was playing for a club, and Amber wanted to join a club, too. We told her to wait another year or two, and in the meantime she kept knocking a ball around.
“We were in Tauranga at the time, and when she was seven she joined a club team. She was one of two girls in the side, and she was by far the standout player in the team. She often played half a game in goal and half in the outfield.
“We moved to Manawatu and when she was nine she played a season in Feilding. I didn’t know much about the football scene there but her coach said she should go for trials for the girls’ rep team.
“By this time she was 10, and she stood out in the under-11 trial. We got a phone call . . . they said she was too good for that team. They wanted her for the under-13s. And that’s how it’s been; she’s always been an age-group ahead.”
Enjoying games as a spectatorNeal was assistant coach and then coach of Amber’s representative teams as she came through the grades but in recent years has been glad to enjoy her games as a spectator.
When Amber was a Year 9 student playing for Palmerston North Girls’ High School at a national school tournament, she was chosen for a New Zealand u16 team and came to the attention of National Talent Centre coach Gareth Turnbull, who thought she had the makings of at least an u17 player.
In March last year, Turnbull became national u17 coach, and Amber Phillips was in the squad for the Oceania Football Championships. In January this year, New Zealand beat Papua New Guinea in the final in Rarotonga to qualify for the U17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan from September 30 this year.
Amber had already been recognised as a player for the future with her inclusion in the u20 squad who in Tonga last October qualified for the U20 Women’s World Cup, to be played in Papua New Guinea in November this year.
“Amber’s goal is to make the u17 World Cup team to Jordan, then make the u20s the following season,” Neal said.
“She has been offered a university scholarship somewhere in Texas. It’s worth $24,000 a year to cover her tuition fees for three or four years, but that is still well into the future.”
Football has been Amber’s focus for 11 months of the year for the past three years, Neal said.
In 2015, for instance, she started the year with a football camp, then returned to Manawatu and twice-a-week training with the federation team until April. Then, between school and club football, she had five training sessions and two games a week. She was in the Massey University team who competed in the women’s Central League and lost the ASB Cup knockout final 3-0 to Glenfield.
It didn’t let up in spring and summer, as she took part in the u20 and u17 World Cup qualifying campaigns.
This year she will play for Palmerston North Marist in the Central League but not for the school, as she tries to concentrate on the quality of her football rather than the quantity.
Not always a centrebackAmber was not always a centreback.
“When I was younger I was bounced around the field a bit,” she said.
“I tried goalkeeper for two or three years, I played in midfield, and I even played as a striker for a while.
“Then three years ago one of my coaches advised me to give centreback a go for the season, and it has kind of stuck. I enjoy it . . . it’s great.”
Asked about the influences on her football, Amber said her father had a lot to do with it.
“I’ve looked up to what he achieved and used that as motivation.
“Beyond that, I just love playing the game, being outside, enjoying it.”
Football highlights so far include an Australian tour with the New Zealand secondary school girls’ team in 2014, where the professionalism was different from anything she had experienced; the u20 women’s world cup qualifiers in Tonga; and the u17 Oceania tournament in Rarotonga.
Amber said Central Football had helped her by providing high-quality football environments, particularly the federation teams and National Talent Centre camps.
Looking to the future, Amber is keen to take advantage of the opportunities football offers through American university scholarships.
Amber’s siblings, Isaac, 21, and Ashlee, 18, do not share her passion for football, although Ashlee enjoys netball and squash.
Sport features strongly on both sides of the family. Her mother Wendy is the daughter of former Poverty Bay cricketer Murray Owen and Val, younger sister of former Poverty Bay rugby player John Penny.
Going back even further, Murray’s father, Arthur Owen, represented the district in rugby, cricket, athletics and rowing, and was in an Auckland province selection of promising cricketers who toured the South Island.
And with Neal and Wendy cheering from the sidelines, Amber could add still further to the family sporting history.
