Michael O'Keeffe (born 9 August 1990) is a New Zealand

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was a New Zealand semi-professional football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most succe ...

and played for the New Zealand U23 national team. Since 2017, O’Keeffe has been a TV reporter and presenter for

Newshub ''Newshub'' (stylised as ''Newshub.'') is a New Zealand news service that airs on the television channels Three and Eden, as well as on digital platforms. It formerly operated across radio stations run by MediaWorks Radio until December 202 ...

. He is the younger brother of rugby union referee,

Ben O'Keeffe Ben O'Keeffe (born 3 January 1989) is a rugby union referee from New Zealand. He currently referees at domestic, Super Rugby and test match level. Domestic career O'Keeffe became a professional referee for the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) i ...

Career

O'Keeffe grew up in Blenheim, New Zealand and was schooled at

Marlborough Boys' College Marlborough Boys' College is a state single-sex secondary school in Blenheim, New Zealand. The school was established as Marlborough High School in 1899 (renamed Marlborough College in 1919). The school its current form in was established in 1963 ...

and

Christchurch Boys' High School , motto_translation = I Seek Higher Things , type = State school, Day and Boarding school , gender = Boys , song = The School We Magnify , colours = Blue and Black , established = , address = 71 Straven R ...

. He then moved to Fairfield, Connecticut where he began his university studies whilst also on a full soccer scholarship. O'Keeffe graduated from

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A), Television New Media. Michael moved to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand where he honed his goal keeping skills as a member of Blenheim All Stars indoor handball team. In June 2012 O'Keeffe received a late call-up to the

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

as an injury replacement for

Mark Paston Mark Nelson Paston (born 13 December 1976) is a New Zealand former Goalkeeper (association football), football goalkeeper who most recently played for the Wellington Phoenix FC, Wellington Phoenix in the A-League before announcing his retireme ...

in the

2012 OFC Nations Cup 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. O'Keeffe was selected for the New Zealand U23 national team, participating in the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2013 O'Keeffe joined

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

team

Ocean City Nor'easters Ocean City Nor'easters is an American soccer team based in Ocean City, New Jersey. Founded in 1996, the team currently plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays their home games at Carey Stadium wh ...

. In 2014, he returned to New Zealand to play for

in the 2014–15

ASB Premiership The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

. Since 2017, he has been a TV reporter and presenter for

References

External links

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NZ Football profileFairfield Stag's profile2012 London Olympics profileOlé Football Academy profile
1990 births Living people New Zealand men's association footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Olympic association footballers for New Zealand Association footballers from Christchurch Canterbury United Dragons players Fairfield Stags men's soccer players Ocean City Nor'easters players USL League Two players 2012 OFC Nations Cup players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics People educated at Marlborough Boys' College People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States {{NewZealand-footy-bio-stub