Brooke Neary

DOB 14/10/07

Brooke Neary signed a youth development agreement with the Wellington Phoenix for the 2024-25 Ninja A-League.

Neary joined Portugul’s Carolina Vilão and fellow New Zealand age-group international Aimee Danieli as the Phoenix’s goalkeeping unit.

She joined the club’s academy from Wainuiomata AFC at the start of 2023, when she was converted from an outfield player to a ‘keeper.

“I definitely was against the idea of changing positions when it first got brought up, but my dad helped me get into it,” Neary said.

“It’s been about 20 months now and has been an awesome opportunity.

“I’m so grateful for the academy coaches, and being there four days a week definitely helped me improve a lot.

“With the academy playstyle, they like the keepers using their feet. Previously being an outfield player has helped me a lot, being able to play with my feet and stepping into the backline.”

> 2023-24 season

Brooke Neary represented New Zealand at the OFC U-16 Women’s Championship in Tahiti in September 2023 at the end of her first season with the academy.

Neary trained with the first team during the 2023-24 A-League and was then a key part of the women’s reserves team that went all the way to the semi-finals of the Kate Sheppard Cup in 2024.

She represented New Zealand at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic in October 2024, and started in goal for their group matches against Nigeria and Ecuador.