Getting the football fever

Coach Nigel Macintosh during the half time team talk. Waikato Senior Women’s Division 1 – Cambridge v Thames, John Kerkhof Park.

They start ‘em young in Cambridge football either on the sideline or on the pitch itself and club officials are hoping the Football Ferns’ success will now keep them playing.

Ivy Erceg kicks the ball around while her mum Keltie plays in a losing Thames side versus Cambridge.

Whether it is 18 month old Ivy Erceg kicking a ball on the sideline, speedy left wing Hannah Jordan, 16, or the 50 plus supporters who caught a FIFA-provided bus to the World Cup football in Hamilton on Saturday night.

They, like the rest of the country, are caught up in the women’s football hype sweeping the country.

At Ivy’s age, Hannah was kicking a ball around Crewe in the United Kingdom and took the game up when her parents Andrew and Ruth moved to Cambridge in 2011.

First it was at St Peter’s Catholic School and now at Sacred Heart Girls’ College, where she is in the first XI saving money for a tour of Australia next year.

Cambridge Football Club senior women’s club captain Selina Oliver said Hannah was the club’s “shining star” – a pocket rocket on the ball who started the season in the B team and graduated very quickly to the top side who beat Thames 7-1 on Sunday in Waikato senior women’s division one.

Hannah was at Waikato Stadium to see Japan beat Zambia 5-0 in the Group C match. She not only supports the Football Ferns, but also the England Lionesses and still has a soft spot for Tranmere Rovers in English Football’s league two.

Also at the stadium was Selina, who has volunteered during the tournament, and a bus load of supporters from Cambridge all wearing green t-shirts provided by FIFA World Cup organisers to boost support for Zambia.

Everyone was still buzzing after the Football Ferns 1-0 win over Norway.

“We just hope the result raises the awareness of football in Cambridge,” said Selina. “The part we’re lacking is in the teenage area; it’s always when girls drop out.”

And the decline has been noticeable over the past three seasons – from four secondary school teams to two this year.

“Football ticks all the boxes, it’s social and it’s fun.”

And as for Ivy, in town watching mum Keltie Erceg playing for Thames, the footwear might have to change.

Red band gumboots are not what Football Ferns wear – yet!

On the ball: Hannah Jordan’s on the ball skills have already seen her catapulted into the top Cambridge women’s side.