The Levin Women's AFC team had a 2-1 win at Donnelly Park at the weekend.
The Levin Women's AFC team had a 2-1 win at Donnelly Park at the weekend.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup currently being played in New Zealand and Australia has the sport squarely in the spotlight with an estimated viewing audience of 993 million people worldwide.
The opening games in the tournament have also seen record attendances for a women’s football match, 75,784 in Australia and 42,137 in New Zealand. The first eight games played in New Zealand attracted a total of 197,265 spectators.
Seeing the New Zealand Football Ferns beat Norway in the opening game set the tournament alight. A country that has always had rugby as the number one winter sport is embracing the beautiful game.
That heightened interest in women’s football has rippled down to local leagues where participation numbers in both junior girls and women’s leagues continues to grow. Levin AFC junior manager Clint Grimstone said girls now make up 20 per cent of the 300 junior players registered with Levin AFC.
Massey University and Levin AFC captains Sarah Hodson and Vanessa Smith rock-paper-scissors in front of match official Brendan Howell.
“There is huge potential for girls when you throw an equitable lens over things,” he said.
The challenge was keeping girls involved in the game long term and girls-only competitions was the answer. Having secondary school girls’ teams representing the local colleges was important, even if they formed combined teams.
“When they get to a certain age they don’t want to play with the boys, who hog the ball and don’t pass,” he said.
The Levin Women's AFC team had a 2-1 win at Donnelly Park at the weekend.
Grimstone said New Zealand Football were funding initiatives to continue to grow the women’s game. From a long term point of view, it had been proven that mothers often have a big influence on what sports their children are introduced to and play.
Girls and boys were playing happily together at junior level where there was no discernible difference in skill level.
However, as players got older it was important to have girls-only leagues. Research had shown girls were more likely to have longevity in the game as they got older if they were in girls’ teams playing in girls’ leagues.
Growth in numbers meant it was possible to have girls’ leagues. Levin AFC had enough players for a girls’ league in the 11th and 12th grade this season, while a Levin AFC girls U10 team played in a Manawatū competition, he said.
Levin AFC players shook hands with the opposition before the start of the game at Donnelly Park.
Meanwhile, Levin AFC senior women’s coach Chris Bennett had coached men’s and junior teams in the past and said there was a skill level and excitement unique to the women’s game that made it exciting.
“They play a fast-paced style of game and it’s very good to watch,” he said.
“We’re having a fantastic season. There is unbelievable talent out there from a women’s point of view.”
Bennett had no trouble fielding a full squad of 16 each week. If numbers continued to grow he would suggest the club would look at fielding a second women’s team in the near future.
“Anyone can play, socially or competitively,” he said.
“We train once a week. It would be good to train twice a week, but it’s about finding that balance.”
Levin AFC Women’s won their game 2-1 against Massey Women’s Reserves at Donnelly Park on Sunday with player of the day Lisa Fletcher scoring both goals in the first half.
The competition draw sees the women’s team with three consecutive home games at Donnelly Park in the coming weeks, which attract healthy support and good crowds.
Last season the team didn’t fare that well, but this season they’d won more games than they’d lost.
- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.
