Melville United have struck a high-watermark in terms of international team selections, with three players named in the New Zealand squad to contest the Oceania U16 Women's Championship in Samoa - and a fourth placed on standby as a non-travelling reserve.

Defender Miché Cloete, striker Mia Humphrey and goalkeeper Emma Meadows have been named in the New Zealand team which will be attempting to qualify for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2026, while fullback Hayley Cutler is a non-travelling reserve.

And with Laura Bennett already recognised as a key component of New Zealand women's U17s squad, it means that combined, Melville's female international age-group contingent represents a quarter of the 2025 women's first team squad.

But perhaps even more remarkably, there was also regret at Gower Park that there wasn't an even greater Melville presence in the national squad.

Indeed, Melville women's director of football Tarena Ranui reported that at a team gathering following selection, celebration and disappointment were communally acknowledged in equal measure in a first team squad where all but three players are eligible for national age-group teams.

"Team selection is outside of the control of players," Ranui said. "But the ability to celebrate players who got selected and also share the huge disappointment that other didn't as a group has been very important."

However perhaps the bigger story behind the bulk Melville call-up can be traced back to 2017, and the early junior initiatives of Ranui as a junior coach with Northern United (with whom Melville have had a memorandum of understanding for a number of years).

At the time Ranui was coaching an U10 team at Northern United and over the next two seasons became concerned that some girls at the club weren't experiencing the same coaching input.

Ranui decided that she didn't want to operate an exclusive premier girls team because that would be counter-productive in terms of how the culture of girls of that age tends to evolve.

Instead she split the better girls up team-wise to be managed by various parents, though trained all of them together during the week.

"There were not enough girls playing sport to try and form a super team at that level," Ranui said. "My original goal was just to have as many of them as possible having access to coaching."

In 2020 she volunteered to coach all girls teams at the club. And though it was COVID-interrupted, it turned out to be a massive year for girls football at Northern as even more girls signed up and for the U13 age bracket, they mushroomed to 40-50 players.

Then in 2021 Ranui modified things further and created a "pod system", whereby the top girls would still play for different teams but also come together occasionally throughout the season.

By Ranui's own admission this wasn't a straight-forward evolution.

"I spent the first season dismantling a system, and it was often mistake-ridden and chaotic," she said.

"But it did allow the likes of Mia (Humphrey) and Emma (Meadows) to join us from different groups. Was it perfect? No, and we often ended up with kids coaching kids. But in some ways it was 'perfect' because we are now seeing these players getting recognised."

As the girls got older, the question arose as to what happened next, in the 12-14 age group. There were concerns that high school football might just as likely be detrimental as beneficial to a development programme that was steadily evolving.

And that was when Ranui decided to link up with Melville, where her son Carlos was playing.

Initially her oversight meant taking a bunch of girls and playing them amongst the boys in Sunday federation competition - but at least making sure they had somewhere to go.

But through its academy operation Melville duly gained accreditation for New Zealand Football's Talent Development Programme (TDP), designed to enhance youth player development in football, particularly for players aged 13-17 and this in turn gave access to top northern regional competition.

As a result the female side of the academy has since really flourished, built around a bunch of girls where a number have now been with Ranui for 5-6 years, and even more shipping in.

In reflecting on this journey Ranui said it had not always been smooth.

"But I am 25-years-deep in working in a decile 1 school (Ngaruawahia High) where you are always competing from behind and still have to somehow be good enough.

Tarena Ranui

"We are now seeing rewards for being brave. From the viewpoint of both athletes and parents, how it has been done hasn't always made sense, but we now have a group where there is trust and belief.

"Every parent and every player has somehow contributed to the success of a few. And we have also created a good space for girls to grow in."

Ranui said it was important to stress it was not just a case of having a northern league presence that was critical to the development programme.

"There is also the U16s, for when the younger players are coming back from injury or just need to reconnect more with the fun side of football, where the stakes are not so high.

"Then there is the W-League (Waikato-BOP) where players often have to figure out the challenges and solutions for themselves."

But there is now a risk of the Melville women's premier team being victim of their own success as they try to secure a maiden northern league championship title against a backdrop of key players being away on international duty - while also facing testing upcoming national youth league qualification matches.

Ranui: "I would love to have the likes of Mia (Humphrey) available for our match against Franklin, but it now means someone else will get an opportunity.

"We face a wild August and if we fail, we will feel it together. We know it will not mean we are not good enough.

"However this is not our first rodeo. At the start of the season we had the same sort of clash with  the futsal calendar. Then there is the secondary school nationals. 

"We are a group that is always up for the fight."

Meanwhile Ranui noted further broader challenges also loomed in terms of player development for young females.

"There has been a huge shift in terms of how the world comes at girls of this age even in terms of the last two years and how we navigate this. It even raises questions of how we parent in this space."

# Ranui will be part of the New Zealand U16s pre-tour camp, but has declined to tour as an assistant coach because of her ongoing commitments to Melville's players.

A closer look at the Melville U16s

Mia Humphrey

Mia Humphrey

Ranui: "At 15 she is young, and has had to respond to being on the bench a bit this season but she always creates opportunities, is very technical and runs beautiful lines.

"She has an ability to get in behind teams and can be very influential off the bench. As we have seen, she has even scored five goals in a northern league match this season."

Miché Cloete

Ranui: "I always used to say if you want to go to a World Cup, become a defender, because midfielders never get to see the ball.

"With a futsal background Miché has spent a lot of life as a central midfielder and is also strong, but has now been rewarded for being flexible and learning a different role.  She has been prepared to go sideways in order to go forward."

Emma Meadows

Emma Meadows

But a couple of years ago Weir Rose Bowl coach Brooke Macdonald put her in goal and she immediately proved to be cat-like, impressing everyone with her reflexes and bravery.

Ranui:  "Emma has amazing reflexes is very good with her angles ad has been prepared to learn the art of goalkeeping, making her very valued.

"Our female goalkeepers are a very special group within the club. I must say I am also really excited for the future of our other keeper, Elin Gainsford, who must have been very close to selection as well."

Hayley Cutler (non-travelling reserve)

Hayley Cutler

Ranui: "Until an ID match in March Hayley was playing as a striker but I think she is very unlucky not to be in the travelling squad as a left back, right back or central defender.". (The travelling party is limited to a squad of 18.)

"She has done an incredible job to adjust and learn in a short space of time. She is not only athletic, but has a great ability to learn and has been prepared to get out of her comfort zone."

New Zealand U16 squad:

Cate Atkinson, Northern Tigers (Abbotsleigh), Australia

Micaela Besley, Fencibles United (Botany Secondary College), New Zealand

Eden Chaytor, Fencibles United (Botany Downs College), New Zealand

Miché Cloete, Melville United (Hamilton Girls’ High School), New Zealand

Lania Fili, Nepean (Jamison High School), Australia

Aleesha Gray, FSA State Squads (St Peter’s Girls’ School), Australia

Alexandra Hedington, Auckland United (Mount Albert Grammar School), New Zealand

Amelia Hitchcock, Eastern Suburbs (Baradene College), New Zealand

Mia Humphrey, Melville United (Waikato Diocesan School), New Zealand

Nienke Lemmens, AZ Alkmaar (Willem Blaeu), Netherlands

Emma Meadows, Melville United (Hamilton Girls’ High School), New Zealand

Elizabeth Rennell, Auckland United (Mount Albert Grammar School), New Zealand

Bonnie Rice, Auckland United (Westlake Girls’ High School), New Zealand

Isla Robson, Auckland United (Mount Albert Grammar School), New Zealand

Madison Sharkey, Wellington Phoenix (Sacred Heart College), New Zealand

Charlotte Summers, Dunedin City Royals (Queen’s High School), New Zealand

Bree Toatelegese, Ellerslie (Saint Kentigern College), New Zealand

Ariana Vosper, Auckland United (Takapuna Grammar School), New Zealand.

Group A: Samoa, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tahiti.Group B: New Zealand, Tonga, Solomon Islands, American Samoa.

Group B: New Zealand, Tonga, Solomon Islands, American Samoa.

Article added: Tuesday 22 July 2025