Southland has another New Zealand sporting representative.

Talented 15-year-old football player Sammy Murrell has again highlighted her promising future in the sport with her selection in the national under-16 team to play in a Oceania Football tournament in Fiji in December.

The Southland Girls' High School year 10 pupil is one of a group of talented young Southland players who have been working hard as part of the Southland Football Academy, and that hard work is paying off.

Murrell is one of four South Islanders named in the national under-16 squad of 18 players.

The under-16 team has been picked with the focus on developing a side for the under-17 World Cup in Costa Rica in 2014.

Sammy said she learned of her selection from her school principal on Monday, and the news came as a complete surprise.

"It's really exciting," she said yesterday.

The news was that fresh that she has not yet found out who she will actually be playing against when she makes the trip to Fiji in December.

Murrell has been a key performer for Southland Girls' in the Kolk Trophy women's premier competition this season.

Her focus now will be to continue that training and get ready for her first taste of international football with the hope there will be plenty more to come.

Murrell will also have school and Southland under-18 age-group commitments to look forward to in the buildup to representing her country in December.

The central midfielder comes from a sporting family - her father, Bobby, wore Southland rugby's No 9 jersey during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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