Hundreds of football fans show-up for once in a lifetime opportunity.
Torrential rain couldn’t deter hundreds of Tauranga football fans as they descended on Fergusson Park to get up close and personal with the Fifa Women’s World Cup.
The event is being hosted by New Zealand and Australia and with just one month to go until the opening ceremony, the Ōtūmoetai Football Club on Sunday hosted the Tauranga leg of the official Trophy Tour.
“Women’s football is a movement - this tournament is going to change the minds of some girls who play other sports,” said former Football Ferns player Maia Jackman, who unveiled the trophy to fans.
“It’s a really cool opportunity for the people of Tauranga to see what’s about to hit their shores and to pop over the Kaimais and see some amazing footballers.”
Five games will be played just 90 minutes away from Tauranga, at Hamilton’s Waikato Stadium.
For one Kiwi-Swedish family, the competition could not start soon enough.
Tauranga resident Sofie Falk with her three daughters - Tuva Ware, 5, Linnea Ware, 7, and Eva Ware, 9, the Fifa Women’s World Cup trophy and tournament mascot Tazuni. Photo / Gavin Ogden
“I don’t think the majority of Kiwis realise how big this is,” said Tauranga resident Sofie Falk, who will be taking her family to the Sweden-Argentina game in Hamilton.
Falk’s three daughters were all excited for the games to begin.
“The World Cup’s the best,” said 9-year-old Eva Ware. “It’s the best teams in the whole world and we get to go see it. It’s just amazing.”
Seven-year-old Linnea Ware said: “I’ve never actually been to a big football game before and I am excited for it.”
Tuva Ware, 5, was “excited to see who wins”.
The tournament is expected to be watched by a global audience of around two billion.
“Thirty-two countries are coming down here - it’s played in 206 countries,” said Jackman.
“The impact that this kind of event can have on this and the next generation, in your own country, to be able to see it and feel it and hear it, and be in those stadiums, see these amazing athletes - you can see it, so you can be it.”
Jackman said there were many more opportunities in women’s football today, compared to when she was a young girl starting out.
“When I was growing up I had the men’s World Cup and that’s what I aspired to but I knew I couldn’t get there.
“But all of a sudden in 1991, the first inaugural Women’s World Cup happened. I was 15 years old and that inspired me to carry on because, all of a sudden, I can make it to a World Cup.”
Nine-year-old Harper Bronkhorst-Barrett travelled from Whakatāne with her family to see the trophy. Photo / Gavin Ogden
Harper Bronkhorst-Barrett took the opportunity to have some of the players sign her football.
The Whakatāne 9-year-old said she was excited about the World Cup.
The official Trophy Tour started in Hamilton, which is one of the host cities for the tournament, before making stops in Tauranga, Taupō and Rotorua.
“This is the biggest female sporting event in the world,” said Hamilton Host City spokeswoman Emma Alsemgeest.
“It’s all about inspiring young girls and females in sport. Reach your goals, achieve your dreams. The amount of people we got here today is fantastic.”
Pāpāmoa resident John Bailey said the opportunity to “see something that will be watched by people all around the world come to little old Tauranga is huge”.
His 11-year-old son Jake was equally excited: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. It really excited me that it was really close to our home.”
