Dad's memory spur for rising soccer star | Canterbury Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Canterbury

The memory of her father, who died last year, spurs 16-year-old Gabrielle Kerdemelidis in her goal of a career in soccer.

Kerdemelidis is in the national squad training for the first under-17 women's World Cup, which New Zealand will host in October.

The Burnside High School sixth former is just back from the warm-up tournament in Auckland which included women's soccer super powers Germany and the US. The only Christchurch player in the team, she played in the losses to Germany and Australia - the latter particularly frustrating.

"We outplayed them the whole game and an unlucky penalty made it 1-0 to them," she said.

She also played in two of the three tests against South Korea in December, including a 1-1 draw in the last game after two defeats.

A central midfielder, Kerdemelidis has played soccer since she was seven, when she was the only girl in the Nomads team coached by her father George - "it was good because you learned to play the game quicker," she said.

Her father coached her teams from seventh grade to 11th, and since his death last year she's used his memory to inspire herself.

"I wear a couple of rings on my finger for him," she said.

Kerdemelidis started senior women's soccer in 2005 but was deemed too young, and had to wait another season before establishing herself at this level with Rangers. This year she will play for Rowena Fulham's new Coastal Spirit team after the Rangers-Brighton merger.

However, she will also go to Auckland regularly for under-17 training camps.

She'll also chase the boys at school - she hopes to train this winter with the Burnside High first 11.

An all-rounder, Kerdemelidis has also excelled in tennis (where she was seeded No.2 in Canterbury in 14th grade), athletics (where she made Canterbury age group teams), and gymnastics, where she attained her gold badge.

However, it's soccer that's No.1 for her, and she gave away the others to concentrate on that.