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April 2007
Women's Soccer's Pot Bubbling Nicely
by Jeremy Ruane
While the focus is on the senior team's efforts to qualify for China 2007 this month, there are plenty of other irons in the fire where New Zealand women's soccer is concerned at present.
“It's a really exciting time”, declares NZS Head of Women's Football, Michele Cox. “Due to Allan Jones' unexpected resignation, the first couple of weeks in March were pretty disruptive for all concerned. It's been unsettling for the girls, but they haven't been disadvantaged during this time. We've acted quickly to resolve the situation, and now they're on their way again.
“By appointing John Herdman as National Coach, the co-ordination between the seniors and the U-20s squad, which he also coaches, will be a lot better for all concerned. Both squads will be working together, with the younger group working towards qualifying for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Finals in Chile next year”.
2008 also marks a huge year for women's soccer in particular, and the game in general in this country, as New Zealand hosts the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals.
“At deadline time for the last issue of Soccer Talk, we were hosting a FIFA delegation led by the FIFA U-20 & U-17 Women's World Cups Organising Committee Chairman, and Executive Committee member, Chuck Blazer, and Inaki Alvarez, the head of Youth and Development Competitions.
“We visited the potential venues for NZ08 - Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Hamilton and Auckland - and were accompanied in each location by the Chairman and CEO of the relevant federation. Hotel visits were also on the agenda in each of the venues.
“We also met the Mayor of each potential host city, and in the capital, met the Prime Minister, Helen Clark and Sports Minister, Trevor Mallard. Our guests were impressed by the people they met and the professionalism they experienced, and were generally pleased with the facilities, their only concern being the oval shape of the stadiums!”
With the site visit having been completed, NZ08 is now very much into the planning phase, with logistics, marketing and communications key components in this process. The Local Organising Committee, led by NZ08 CEO, Chris Simpson, will be greatly assisted by FIFA's input, as Michele explains.
“Following the experiences of Russia - a fantastic tournament, watched by too few, FIFA have opted to apply what's known as a `legacy' approach to future youth tournaments, beginning with NZ08.
“The idea is that the tournament leaves a legacy for the host nation to enjoy, in the form of an improved structure, benefits for players, coaches and referees, and for the community as a whole.
“Consequently, FIFA are involving their Marketing and Development teams, as well as the Competitions Department, which means we'll be able to do a lot more in the build-up to the tournament, raise its profile … it greatly increases our scope to make this something special”.
An example of the benefits to be experienced will be seen later this year, when New Zealand will host another FIFA 'first' - the debut of a women's football-oriented Com-Unity programme, involving existing and potential partners of the code, and key influencers of the women's game in New Zealand, over five days in mid-June.
“The idea behind Com-Unity is to improve the awareness of the value football can have in a country, so something like this for New Zealand should prove quite exciting for all involved”, says Michele.
On the park, the squad identification process for the Paul Temple-coached NZ U-17 squad has taken place, and all but one member of the extended thirty-six strong group (listed right) - Annalie Longo (pictured right), who will be on duty with the senior squad - will be involved in a fourteen-day camp during the April school holidays at North Harbour Stadium.
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