But going through a tournament unbeaten and gaining qualification for a world cup is a cut above.
Dunedin goalkeeper Megan Waayer recorded three clean sheets to help New Zealand defend their Oceania under-16 championship title in Fiji recently.
Their superb campaign — recording 26 goals for and none against — gained New Zealand qualification to the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Morocco next year.
Waayer, 16, felt an "overwhelming" sense of pride winning the tournament and watching her and her team-mates’ hard work come to fruition.
"It was an amazing experience to not only represent the country, but to represent your family and play football with a bunch of great girls," Waayer said.
"It was a great feeling."
The Grants Braes footballer started in New Zealand’s wins over New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands, and came off the bench in the 76th minute of their semifinal against Tonga.
New Zealand, coached by New Zealand Football women’s talent manager and former Canterbury United Pride head coach Alana Gunn, opened their tournament with a 8-0 win over New Caledonia and followed with a 5-0 win over Tahiti and a 1-0 win over the Solomon Islands in pool play. They then thumped Tonga 8-0 in the semifinal and had a 4-0 win over Samoa, who also qualified for the world cup, in the final.
Waayer, who also plays for Bayfield High School, said it was a great opportunity to test herself against high-quality competition.
"It was a really good learning experience," Waayer said.
"I got to learn and grow as a person ... with good people who we were playing against and with."
It left her driven to represent New Zealand again.
"It’s given me the fire to want to grow so that I can get selected for the team next year."
Waayer is also part of the Southern United under-18 team, who play in the national youth league.
