As part of Girls and Women’s Week, we caught up with Football Ferns fullback Sarah Morton on her journey in football so far.

The 21-year-old has made six senior international appearances and found the net once since making her debut in 2018 and was a member of the Ferns squad at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

Born in the tiny Hawke’s Bay village of Tikokino, Morton is now based in Auckland and is part of the Future Ferns Domestic Programme (FFDP).

She hails from a football family with sister Rose also having played for New Zealand at youth level and brother Harry starring in the American college system.

Read on to see what she has to say….

I first got into football when I was five like a lot of people probably. It was just because my older brother played rugby and then he switched to football. Me being the younger sister, I just wanted to get into what he was doing and try to be better at it than him. I’m still trying to do that to this day, hopefully I’ll get there!

My earliest memory of football is playing in the backyard with my brother and sister. We’d do two vs one against my brother and he’d always beat us somehow. Or we’d have to finish because we’d kick the ball at the house and mum would yell at us to stop!

It’s awesome having a sister who is also a good footballer, Rose and I just constantly push each other and we always back each other to do well. It’s great knowing someone has your back like that.

Sarah Morton's sister Rose has also represented her country (Photosport)

The players I’ve always looked up to are all the older Football Ferns like Ria Percival and Ali Riley. They both play in the same position as me at fullback and have had such amazing careers so I’ve wanted to be like them for so long.

The biggest influence on my career has definitely been my whole family, they’re all really supportive. Mum and dad have always pushed me and supported me. When I first moved up to Auckland they would still buy me petrol vouchers and things like that. The whole family is always behind me which is awesome.

The thing I love most about football is just that feeling of coming off after 90 minutes when you’ve worked your butt off, you’ve won the game and your team mates are all around you to enjoy it with. And then I also love everything about the actual game – from attacking to defending, I just love it!

My advice to younger players would just be to get into it and put the hours in. If you enjoy something and want to reach a certain goal then just chase it relentlessly. As long as you enjoy it then just keep going and don’t give up.

Sarah Morton's footballing hero is Football Ferns captain Ali Riley (Photosport)

The main focus for me at the moment is the Olympics and I’m just trying to do everything I can leading up to that to get into that team. It would be amazing to be involved in that.

I’m working towards becoming a professional in the next few years and to get a solid place in the Football Ferns line-up. I definitely need to work on my technical ability. Physically, I’ve always been able to make progress with my fitness but getting my technique better and improving my passing accuracy is going to be the main focus for me this year I think.

Article added: Sunday 23 February 2020