This week on Player Profiles, AFF Media Officer, Mark Casson caught up with Three Kings United and Auckland Football speedster, Paige Satchell.

Satchell is known for her amazing dribbling technique on the field and speedy tenacity on the pitch.

Here is a quick profile on Satchell.

MC:Talk us through your footballing background – how did it all start?
PS: I grew up in Rotorua and I started playing football when I was five, my whole family was involved, and my sister was playing, so naturally I got involved as well. I started playing a boys’ team until the age of 13, where I moved into a Women’s side and then I was invited to a NTC camp in Auckland when I was 14 and got selected into the wider squad for the U17s and so I’ve represented New Zealand at one U17s FIFA Women’s World Cup and two U20 FIFA Women’s World Cups. I moved to Auckland in my last year of high school, just to develop my football further and it was a really good move for me because I improved my confidence and my playing ability.

MC: Who had the biggest influence on your football?
PS: It was my family, they were the biggest support network for me, my dad used to drive me up to Auckland most weekends for training, so they were definitely a big influence on my footballing career and the Football Ferns were definitely a big inspiration for me growing up. I always admired them and wanted to be like them and that was always a big influence in pushing me to become a better football player.

MC: Do you have any local footballing idols?
PS: The likes of Sarah Gregorius and Annalie Longo, I’ve played with them and been with them while on tour with the Ferns, and they’re just fantastic players and I really do learn a lot from them.

MC: How about international stars?
PS: The likes of Marta, Alex Morgan and Mallory Pugh, they’re all fantastic, very clinical in front of goal and just amazing players to watch.

MC: What do you do outside of football? Work or study?
PS: I work at the moment, I am studying too, but doing a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Sport and Exercise Science part time at Massey University. It’s going to take a bit of time to complete and I am slowly ticking away at it.

MC: You were at the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup recently, talk us through your experience over in France and competing at the world stage.
PS: It was an amazing experience and the team that went over had a great team culture, everyone got on really well and leading up to it, we knew it was always going to be a challenge and you definitely learn a lot. We performed really well, especially in the game against France where we came away with a 1-1 draw, that was really exciting for us, especially playing them on their home turf and hopefully I can experience that more moving into the Ferns environment.

MC: How do you get the confidence to pull off your dribbling technique on the world stage?
PS: Every player has their own certain playing abilities and for me, I use my speed. I use that to my advantage and some things you pick up more naturally and that’s what I like to bring into the games and that’s my main level of X-Factor. I like to bring it into games and just dribble around players and it helps me grow confidence in myself to be able to do it at places like the World Cup.

MC: Earlier in the season, we spoke to Steph Skilton on Player Profiles and we asked her the question “If you were stuck on a deserted island and you had to pick three players in the team to be stranded on the island with, who would they be?” – She then responded with “I would pick Paige because she’s pretty quick and I could send her off on some missions”, The question I have for you Paige is, if you were stuck on an Island with Steph and you were in charge, what job would you make her do?
PS: Steph is quite tall, so she would be good at reaching fruit and coconuts, from tall trees, which I am not very good at, because I am quite small and I would probably let her do the cooking, because I am not a big fan of cooking, so I will leave that to her.

MC: There’s no secret you’re a quick runner, but we want to know what the secret is on being a fast runner - Can you tell us?
PS: It’s nothing really specific that I do, when I was younger, I picked up early that I was fast because I used to athletics and cross country, but I don’t think it was anything specific that I did to become a fast runner, my mum was quite sporty and fast when she was around my age as well, so maybe I picked up the good genes.

MC: You mentioned the fact you did do athletics and cross country; did you win anything doing that?
PS: I used to compete for school and club and I used to go to quite a few events and I did actually pick up a national cross-country title when I was in year 9, so that was probably the highlight of my running career.

MC: Which teammate is the best to follow on Social Media and why?
PS: Lizzie Anton – she’s pretty funny and she always post some quality stuff.

MC: What’s your dream goal?
PS: My dream goal is ultimately to play for the Ferns, go to Olympic Games, go to World Cups and be in the starting XI, but outside of that, I would like to go overseas and play pro.

MC: If you could go out to dinner with three celebrities, who would they be? And where would you take them?
PS: Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Lawrence and David Beckham and I would take them to Burger Burger because I love burgers.

Article added: Friday 12 October 2018