10 years of toil paying dividends for 15-year-old

Otago Daily Times

14-05-2025

Nearly 10 years to the day since he first picked up a football, Oliver Thompson-Henderson got a call that changed his life.
The Dunedin footballer is jumping on a plane today and is destined for Switzerland as part of the New Zealand under-16 team playing at the Fifa Youth Series.
The 15-year-old can still hardly believe it.
"It's pretty surreal, to be honest," Thompson-Henderson said.
"I wasn't expecting it, especially being from Dunedin."
Thompson-Henderson is part of a 22-strong squad, which includes Wellington-based former Dunedin player Zach Cashmore, whom Thompson-Henderson played alongside at Maori Hill and the Dunedin City Royals academy.
New Zealand, coached by Martin Bullock, have been drawn in group A for the tournament alongside hosts Switzerland and Guatemala.
After their pool games, they will play their equivalent position in the other pool, which involves Malaysia, Paraguay and Tunisia, in the playoffs.
It will be the highest level of football Thompson-Henderson has experienced and one he is very excited about.
"Probably just the experience of playing other countries around the world and seeing what their level is compared to New Zealand."
Thompson-Henderson, who is in year 11 at Otago Boys', started playing football at 5 and immediately loved it.
He moved through the ranks, making the First XI at school, and joined the Royals academy last year before moving up to their southern premiership men's team this season.
He has had a great sounding board in former national representative and Royals academy manager Blair Scoullar, who has also had Thompson-Henderson training with the Southern League side recently.
"When Blair came in, it was really good.
"He had a set pathway and explained the goals and how to achieve it. He's been a good coach that I talk to for my progress."
The left back is dedicated to his craft, currently taking on six training sessions a week, including early morning sessions with former Southern United player Danny Ledwith for the past nine months through his football skills business, Proex.
"It's been really good. It's helped me a lot, actually."
Switzerland is not the only international destination being stamped on his passport this year.
Thompson-Henderson, who played for Southern United under-17 last year, has been selected to play at the Iber Cup in Portugal in December with a team from Ricki Herbert's academy, RH3.
Herbert, the former All Whites coach and player, struck up a relationship with the Royals last year through his long-standing connection with Scoullar.
New Zealand's Fifa Youth Series campaign gets under way against Switzerland on Sunday, followed by Guatemala on Tuesday. Both games start at 2.30am (NZ time).
The tournament will be streamed on Fifa+.