Teen gets UK break

From humble pony paddock beginnings to following his goals to the other side of the world.

Waikato teenager Michael Built has been given the opportunity to play in soccer-mad England.

A chance to play for English Football League Two club Northampton Town while on a tour led to talks of a signing.

Built, a year 12 student, had two runs for the club's Under-16s and impressed in his first game.

"After the first half they said they wanted to sign me."

The 16-year-old St Paul's Collegiate student has been playing for eight years now since running around on the pony field at Te Kauwhata Primary School.

"I originally played rugby, but enjoyed soccer more then I started playing for Huntly Thistle Club and it grew from there, it got bigger and I kept playing."

Teams across the board will lose a top player when this one moves to the motherland next month.

Built currently plays in his school's first XI, Northern League premier division side Hamilton Wanderers senior side and New Zealand's under-17 representatives team.

He also represented his school in a six-man team for cross country, which finished 10th at the secondary schools' nationals in Nelson at the weekend.

Built has a level head and clear goal and is set to make his mark on the English football scene.

"The current goal is just to get into the Northampton top team and then from there to make the premiership one day, and that'd pretty much be the dream," he said.

"My motivation is just to be able to compete and to just be able to prove to myself that I'm a world class footballer I guess."

And not many kids can say that their parents would move to Britain for them, but Built can.

"They always wanted to go to Europe anyway, but they're fully behind me they want me to give it my best shot," the youngster said.

They obviously rate their son's chances at making it, and so does Built's Wanderers coach and former All White Mark Cossey.

"As a player I think he's developed quite nicely," Cossey said.

Built's on-and-off coach for three years has seen him grow into his own on the field.

"He could have a good chance to get a scholarship or (making the) premiership over there," Cossey said. "He's done the hard yards and trained to get to where he is."

* Sarah Byles is a Wintec journalism student.

- © Fairfax NZ News