Luke Brooke-Smith has been called into the All Whites. Photo: JAMES ROSS
Footballer Luke Brooke-Smith is still getting used to people he's looked up to knowing his name.
The 17-year-old has been a late call up to the All Whites squad as injury cover for two games against Australia, meaning the Wellington Phoenix attacker has spent the week rubbing shoulders with players who have professional careers he would like to emulate.
Brooke-Smith is seen as the future of the All Whites, but this month he will be off to the Under-20 World Cup in Chile and is eligible for November's Under-17 World Cup too. The opportunity to get in front of All Whites coach Darren Bazeley for this international window could increase his chances of putting his hand up for the senior world cup next year as well.
Earlier this year Brooke-Smith was training with the All Whites when the squad were in Wellington for the world cup qualifiers but linking up with the team in Canberra is a new experience for the affable youngster, who is still adjusting from being a fan in the stands only a couple of months ago.
"It's a little bit different because when I meet all the players they greet me by my name and they know me and stuff. I think coming in and training you're there to help the session out, but with the last couple of days I've been able to express myself and do what I like to do," Brooke-Smith said.
Being in the same team meetings and on the same training pitch as English Premier League player Chris Wood is an opportunity to be picking the brains of one of the best.
"He's [got] not only every Kiwi's dream career, but I think a lot of people around the world especially in the last year he's been making waves.
"I think Sarpreet [Singh] as well, coming through the Phoenix from a young age and going overseas to Bayern Munich that's obviously the career where I want to go Phoenix and Europe. So I think that really stands out to me.
"In the last couple years a lot of New Zealanders have gone overseas and are now in some of the biggest leagues in the world and that's where I want to be as soon as possible.
"I think it's about learning maybe what they've done to help them get there, but not only that, what it's like in the environments that they're in, and what to look for, because if I want to get there it's not just going to be straight up, obviously a lot of them would have had ups and downs.
"So I think for me, it's taken away all the experience from the squad and see if I can try capture a couple things from the from the top players."
Another difference Brooke-Smith has noticed from his club football or age-group team environment is the number of people the All Whites have supporting their cause.
"There's so many people here that really want the best for me and the best for the team.
"You can tell by the way the environment is how you're walking through the corridor and there's people asking how you are, anything you need. I think that sort of flows around in the circle, and is why the team is just becoming so good in the last couple years.
"That's something that I want to try bringing in as well, even though I'm young, is just the good attitude and the way people treat each other in the team is with the utmost respect."
Someone who is rooting for Brooke-Smith is Ryan Thomas.
Thomas made his own All Whites debut as a teenager in 2014 and is getting to know the national team newcomer.
"He puts his head down, he works hard he wants to learn which is very important, especially with young kids if they've had a little bit of success early on it can go to their heads quite quickly but he seems really down to earth," Thomas said.
"It's a good challenge for him to be here to learn, to play, and just to be involved with the boys here obviously he can learn a lot from Kosta [Barbarouses] and Wood and some of the attacking players that he can hopefully take back to his club and push on from here."
The All Whites and Australia kick off the Soccer Ashes on Friday in Canberra and play the second game in Auckland on 9 September.
