Foster leaning on father's All Black advice - FIFA U-17 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP3
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Heeding and acting upon the advice of parents is not, it must be said, a natural teenage impulse. But if Michaela Foster is no ordinary teenager in this respect, it's worth mentioning that her father is no ordinary parent.
Ian Foster is instead assistant-coach with the All Blacks, the renowned rugby team synonymous with New Zealand - and success - throughout the world. As such, and while throwing in the odd gentle barb in her father's direction, the captain of the Young Football Ferns freely admits to soaking in his word of wisdom.
"Has he been offering me advice? Yeah - plenty!" she told FIFA.com, laughing. "But no, I do listen to what he tells me because he obviously knows what he's talking about. And in terms of leadership, being the captain, he's helped me a lot there. I must admit that he does have some good advice to pass on... most of the time!"
Foster has also not been the only member of this New Zealand party to have benefited from her father's expertise. The team's coach, Gareth Turnbull, also made a point to seek out the rugby legend to boost his team's painstaking preparations for the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.
"The All Blacks are the pinnacle when it comes to New Zealand sport," he explained. "They can be seen as a bit of a hindrance for football at times but there is so much we can learn from them, and we've made sure to draw on Ian's experience. Having such a fantastic high-performance coach connected to the team the way he is, it would have been silly of us not to call on him - and his input has been extremely valuable.
"In terms of leadership, being the captain, he's helped me a lot there. I must admit that he does have some good advice to pass on... most of the time!"
New Zealand captain Michaela Foster on her father
"He came in recently to do a workshop with both the men and women's youth teams, focusing particularly on pressure and the techniques the All Blacks used in winning back-to-back World Cups. We can't give away too many secrets there, but the players will tell you how much they took from it."
Sadly, Foster Snr's rugby commitments will deny him the opportunity to see his daughter lead out New Zealand in their World Cup opener against Mexico on Friday. "He's in Argentina with the All Blacks at the moment, so he can't make it," explained Michaela. "But he said he'll definitely be here if we get through to the knockout stage."
"So we'll see him in a couple of weeks then..." was Turnbull's bullish response to this latter comment, with his captain laughing: "Exactly what I told him!" And while tongues were firmly in cheek, there is nonetheless a genuine and steely determination in the Kiwi camp to prolong their stay in Jordan. "We'll go out to win every match," vowed Turnbull. "Above all, we want to score goals. We're not going to just sit back and look to accumulate draws."
Simply by being here, Foster is set to realise a long-held dream. She remembers vividly being taken, aged nine, by her father to a U-17 Women's World Cup match in 2008, when her home town of Hamilton helped host the very first edition. Now, eight years on, she is back at the tournament as captain of her country. "It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it," she said, looking ahead to leading out the team against Mexico. "When our bus drew up with the New Zealand flag and all the tournament logos on the side, even that was really exciting. Friday is definitely going be a proud day for us."
For New Zealand's players, staff and a certain father nervously following the action from Buenos Aires, that pride will be more than merited.