New Zealand Football launched the initiative in 2010 with a broader goal of introducing females of all ages to the sport.
NZF women’s development manager Emma Humphries believes the team now in place across the country has helped in rolling out events and activities in the federations.
“The recruitment of the women’s development officers has helped us grow Girls and Women’s Week to hit over 7,000 participants for this year, but the bigger picture is that more girls are taking part for the first time in football.”
As with last year, the programme took a focused approach, specifically targeting seven to 12-year-olds to preview girls-only summer football leagues rolling out in every federation.
The strategy follows a national trend as discovered by the recent Sport NZ Young People’s Surveys where football ranked in the top ten sport and recreation activities participated in by girls.
Feedback from federations has also validated the decision to focus on girls as Mainland Football women’s development officer Emily Toase notes.
“We got loads of positive feedback from having Mainland Football in the schools giving the girls something they don’t normally get,” Toase says. “When I got back into the office after one school festival I had four emails from girls saying we’d love to come and play in the girl’s summer league.”
The majority of events were based in schools with Football Ferns such as Jenny Bindon, Kristy Hill and Annalie Longo making guest appearances as well as the next generation of women’s international players from the Junior Football Ferns. The events were a huge success, especially those outside the main centres.
“We targeted areas where football is not a chosen sport, especially in smaller schools,” says Scott Hales, football development officer for the Manawatu and Wanganui areas.
“One of our festivals was at a school where they have 11 girls out of a total roll of 20, and they had just finished a project focusing on elite athletes during the London Olympics. These girls were in awe of Junior Football Fern Evie Millynn when she came and visited as they were able to play with someone who one day could go on to play at the Olympics.”
Humphries says that, given the growth of women’s football in recent years, the continuation of summer football around the country will hopefully accelerate this growth, whilst providing players with a unique and quality experience.
“Girls who play in mixed leagues in winter can now keep playing in the summer and continue their development,” she says.
“And those who have traditionally played other winter sports but have now tried and enjoyed football have an outlet to continue their experiences with confidence in a supportive and nurturing environment.”
The leagues will be run out of the same ‘hub’ each week and in some federations complemented by girls-only ASB Fun Football Centres run in parallel to some leagues to offer training and skill sessions to help players improve.
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand Football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz

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