SOCCER - Women face tough decision

It's almost becoming an annual ritual - Northland's top women's team win the Federation first division and then hunker down to decide whether to accept promotion into the top club competition in the country, the Northern Premier league.
Blue Revolution North Force regained the 2007 title by finishing just two points ahead of Glenfield Rovers reserves and now the players are wondering if the club's board will grant them promotion.
Team captain Sandi Burleigh said the promotion wasn't a clear-cut choice.
"It is a question we've all been asking ourselves since we won the league. The younger girls all want to go up and you can see why, it's essential for them if they want to go to bigger things, they'll learn to play at a much higher calibre than where we've been playing," she said.
Exposure to the top women's division would have benefits especially for the region's rising stars who would get the chance to impress national selectors.
"The worry is that we'll go into the league and we'll get flogged in every single game," Burleigh said.
Players would have to commit to extra training and travel, especially they're taking heavy defeats.
"The question is whether that will be detrimental to the development of the girls or not."
The team showed they had the ability to compete in the premier league this season when they lost narrowly to premier league Glenfield Rovers 1-2 in the second round of the national knockout competition - a good result against a side that eventually finished third in the premier league.
However, five or six out of this year's team are not expected back next season and the absence of experienced players may affect the board's decision.
Burleigh said she was glad the North Force board was deciding but, if pushed, she would give promotion a cautious thumbs-up.
"If my family and social situation allows it, then I'd choose to go up ... but it won't be easy if we go into premier league ... a lot of girls won't be able to step up to that level straight away."
She believes the team would expect to struggle for the first half of the season but isn't daunted: "Let's just go for it - if we lose we lose but at least we're learning, I'm not sure if I can commit yet but if I can that's where I'd like to go - and I think that would be the general attitude of the girls who are planning on playing next year."
Northland teams have won the Federation first division for four years in a row, with FC Whangarei champions for two years before the players decided to play under the North Force banner in 2006.
A decision won't be made until October at the earliest but North Force chairman Chas Flower is a supporter of promotion. "Sure, they should go up, they want a new challenge and playing the top Auckland clubs filled with New Zealand representatives will give them that."