Boom in women’s football gathering pace

Published date06 August 2021
Female football is flourishing in Waitaki — and the growth does not appear to be slowing down.

The sport has grown massively in Waitaki in recent years, as more girls lace up their boots from a young age and continue their passion as they get older.

The growth is being felt across the board. Junior football has 70 girls playing this season, the Waitaki Girls’ High School First XI has returned to competition, and Football Waitaki created two representative teams for the first time this year, both playing at the recent Alan Fraser Memorial Tournament in Kaiapoi.

The only thing left to do was resurrect the Meadowbank senior women’s team, Football Waitaki president Twyla Kingan said.

Passionate up-and-coming player Phoebe Wickham (13) spends her spare time watching or playing football, and is thrilled more females are following and playing the sport.

‘‘I think that’s really really cool for more girls to be motivated, playing sport and participating — I think that’s really awesome,’’ she said.

As part of the under-14 representative team competing at the Alan Fraser Memorial Tournament, Phoebe enjoyed the opportunity to test her skills against other girls teams, usually coming up against mixed teams in Oamaru.

‘‘I loved the challenge to play against girls at a higher level.’’

Across the two teams, 23 players took part in the tournament, providing a platform for high-intensity matches against other young women.

Kingan said it was a really positive environment, and she was thrilled to witness players ‘‘shine and be excited’’ about the opportunity.

‘‘I’m a strong believer that it helps them mentally, physically and the skill of their game — it ticks all the boxes,’’ Kingan said.

‘‘For the 14-year-olds especially, it was good for them to see the sport in terms of physicality at that age.’’

There were discussions about future tournaments in Invercargill and Dunedin, and both teams would compete at Football Waitaki’s Football Festival this month.

Offering new opportunities was exciting, and the level of growth among female footballers was gratifying, she said.

‘‘It’s nice to see that we have lots of girls coming through in sport in general, but in football — I think it’s really positive for them to see the high school girls because they don’t just stop when they hit 12 and 13-years- old. They don’t have to stop just at [a] junior [level], they have another pathway.’’

Waitaki Girls’ and St Kevin’s College had first XIs this season, with players from year 9 to 13...

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