Local newcomers score instant hit

The selection of two Wairarapa players in the New Zealand women's squad for the World Futsal Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in October has had a ''galvanising'' effect on the side.
Meisha Pyke and Kelsi Rutene are new caps in the national line-up and Christchurch-based coach Paul Wadsworth says their inclusion has already had a positive impact on their teammates, the bulk of whom come from the bigger centres.
''It's galvanised everyone involved, it's like a breath of fresh air,'' Wadsworth told the Times-Age yesterday. ''It shows that players from the smaller regions aren't necessarily out in the cold, that if they have the talent and the drive they can go the whole way.''
Wadsworth had both Pyke and Rutene on his short-list after they were part of a Wairarapa team which made their debut at the national women's futsal tournament in Christchurch in February.
It was a tough ask for a mainly inexperienced Wairarapa side, but they acquitted themselves creditably and Wadsworth was quick to note the consistently good impression made by both Pyke and Rutene.
''They were the standouts, in every game they looked quality players,'' Wadsworth said. ''You couldn't leave them out [of the national squad], they were that good.''
Amazingly, the national tourney was Pyke's first major assignment at futsal, a form of indoor football which allows for no more than five players per team on court at any time and which Wadsworth describes as ''like playing basketball with your feet''.
However, the 28-year-old mother of 8-month old Naya, who set up home with husband David in Masterton only last October, has a hugely impressive football CV, which includes playing for the New Zealand senior women's and under-17 girls outdoor football sides and attending Metropolitan State College in Denver on a football scholarship.
Wadsworth believes Pyke will become a vital part of the World Cup team because her height meant she could be used as a target player when high balls were played.
''She's very good in the air but she's also very good with the ball at her feet. She's a fine athlete,'' she said of Pyke. ''And she's got a professional attitude, she trains hard and she plays hard. It's the complete package really''.
Pyke said she was relishing the different style of football required by futsal as compared with the outdoor game.
''There are a lot of quick touches and you get to play the ball a lot more. You are in the game all the time,'' she said. ''The involvement aspect is huge, I like that.''
Rutene, who is studying at Massey University in Palmerston North, was first selected for Capital federation soccer teams at the age of 10 and at 14 she was considered promising enough to be selected as part of a national academy. She made the New Zealand under-17s team in 2006 and, like Pyke, has been an immediate success at futsal.
Wadsworth described Rutene, who was named most valuable player at the last national tourney, as a player who had the speed, the vision and the ball skills to create something out of nothing.
''She's a bit of an excitement machine, and that's what we need.''
Rutene said she was attracted to the high intensity of play involved in futsal and also by the need to think fast while operating in a limited space under pressure.
''It's exciting and physically demanding,'' she said.
The Malaysia event will be the first time New Zealand has contested a women's World Cup in futsal, but after they were beaten narrowly by Australia in the final at a lesser tourney in China last year, Wadsworth is optimistic they will give a strong account of themselves.
''The Aussies were fifth in the last World Cup and they had to work hard to beat us, I think we can take a lot of confidence from that,'' he said.
''And this year's squad is stronger than we had then, and that's promising too.''