The Phoenix are the only professional club in New Zealand and their academy has produced a number of current international footballers, including midfielder Sarpreet Singh and goalkeeper Alex Paulsen.
Foord said it has been a dream since he was little to chase professional football.
“I’ve always wanted to move away from home and pursue football full time.
“So it’s always good to get into a professional environment, and obviously, you want to be building up through the academy and always pushing into the first team.”
He said he was enjoying it so far, having started training last week.
“It’s a pretty good opportunity to be able to train in the literal A-League environment.
“It’s very good just to be training every day and getting good minutes under your belt this early on in the season, just getting back into it.”
Foord said he was initially offered a spot two years ago to join the Phoenix for the 2023 season but turned it down.
“I made the decision to stay at Cash Tech and finish my year 13 of school,” he said.
“And then obviously just left it one year, and then sorted out just after the U17 World Cup (where he represented New Zealand) to come up here this year.”
Foord spent the 2022 and 2023 Southern League and National League seasons with Tech and had nothing but praise for the environment.
“Danny Knight (Tech’s keeper player-coach) literally worked by my side to get me to where I wanted to be and he’s pretty much done everything for me,” he said.
“Dan (Schwarz), the first team coach, has been very welcoming just to get me into the group, and that whole Tech team has been great with me, especially being only 17.
“I think a few times throughout the year we forget how young I was and there was a lot of pressure on me in certain moments, so just taking a step back and resetting with the group around you is very helpful.”
Foord and the Phoenix Reserves start their Central League season on March 30.
