{"id":323441,"date":"2024-11-08T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/?p=323441"},"modified":"2025-02-12T14:03:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T01:03:51","slug":"neary-joins-the-nix-on-amateur-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/neary-joins-the-nix-on-amateur-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"Neary joins the Nix on amateur contract"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Wellington Phoenix have completed their goalkeeping unit for the 2024-25 Ninja A-League season by signing Brooke Neary to a youth development agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neary, 17, has joined Portuguese \u2018keeper Carolina Vil\u00e3o and fellow New Zealand age-group international Aimee Danieli in the Phoenix first team environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danieli, who was on a youth development agreement last season, has been upgraded to a full contract with the Nix having initially signed a scholarship deal with the club in August.

Neary joined the Phoenix academy at the start of last year from Wainuiomata AFC and was a regular in goal for the reserves this season, which included their run to the Kate Sheppard Cup semi-final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is surprised she\u2019s been elevated to the first team so quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was a bit shocked because I thought I\u2019d just be training with the team and improving myself\u201d, Neary said.

\u201cBut I had a chat with Temps (head coach Paul Temple), which brought a bit of light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy family are absolutely stoked after the amount of hours they\u2019ve put into this.

\u201cThey\u2019re so happy it\u2019s come about, and they can\u2019t wait for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Zealand U-17 international has only been a goalkeeper for the past two seasons, which makes her elevation even more impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI definitely was against the idea of changing positions when it first got brought up, but my dad helped me get into it.

\u201cIt\u2019s been about 20 months now and has been an awesome opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful for the academy coaches, and being there four days a week definitely helped me improve a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the academy playstyle, they like the keepers using their feet. Previously being an outfield player has helped me a lot, being able to play with my feet and stepping into the backline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transition to the first team has been easy too, thanks to an \u201camazing\u201d environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Cam McIntosh\/PhotoMac<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Photo credit: Cam McIntosh\/PhotoMac<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe girls have been extremely welcoming up here, and it\u2019s been such a positive and helpful environment to learn in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe whole time, they\u2019ve offered me everything. If I needed help with gym, anything on or off field, everything they give is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month Neary travelled to the Dominican Republic with the New Zealand squad for the FIFA U-17 Women\u2019s World Cup, and she was in goal for two of their three group matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was the experience of a lifetime. Any opportunity to get to play for your country is a massive one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe environment we were in was so competitive. Everyone was pushing each other to the max.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe analysis and everything that goes on behind the scenes, you don\u2019t realise until you\u2019re actually in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was grateful to start two games and for the two other \u2018keepers we had who helped push me to be my best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brooke Neary will wear the no. 13 shirt for the Wellington Phoenix and is the 22nd player confirmed in the women\u2019s squad for the 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":323444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[328,329,330,343,355],"tags":[],"competition":[],"acf":{"match_card_embed_league":"","match_card_embed_club":null,"match_card_embed_match":"","match_card_embed_disable":false,"auto_publish_updates":true,"reference_article":null,"article_featured_video":"","article_featured_video_tagline":"","article_byline":"","article_media_type":"news","article_video":"","gallery":"","shared_ffa_source":"keepup","shared_hide_in_app":false,"article_player":"","article_team":"","article_competition":"","article_match":"","credit":"","related_articles":"","push_to_social":false,"priority":1,"sport":false,"language":"en","private_content":false,"access_level":"","article_id":"","app_featured_image":null,"article_content_group":"news"},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/neary-joins-the-nix-on-amateur-contract\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Neary joins the Nix on amateur contract","url":"http:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/neary-joins-the-nix-on-amateur-contract\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/news\/neary-joins-the-nix-on-amateur-contract\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-08-at-14.08.01.jpeg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2024\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2024-11-08-at-14.08.01.jpeg"},"articleSection":"Academy News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"roshi"}],"creator":["roshi"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wellington Phoenix","logo":"https:\/\/wellingtonphoenix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2022\/04\/cropped-Wellington_Phoenix_FC_logo-2.png"},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2024-11-08T03:00:00Z","datePublished":"2024-11-08T03:00:00Z","dateModified":"2025-02-12T01:03:51Z"},"rendered":"