(Picture caption: The Auckland Pacific Football Festival encourages Pacific peoples to choose football as their sport of choice. PHOTO CREDIT: Phototek.)
New Zealand Football, supported by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples is on a mission to make football more inclusive and welcoming to Pacific peoples.
To kick off this endeavour, Northern Region Football Federation helped stage the inaugural Auckland Pacific Football Festival at Manukau United/Manukau City Football Club recently.
Last year, the Ministry applied for funding to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ Legacy and Leverage fund to include Pacific communities more wholesomely in the game and partnered with New Zealand Football to achieve this goal.
New Zealand Football’s Diversity and Inclusion Manager Hussain Hanif says the aim of the partnership was to increase participation through identifying barriers, raising awareness of the game, and increasing visibility of Pacific people already in the game.
They do this by working alongside Pacific communities, and regional and national football organisations.
“The co-designed project has three connected components – community talanoa, community football activations, and Yavu cultural competency training,” Hussain says.
“Festivals were an outcome of the talanoa series held in late 2023 with three regional football federations taking the lead in working with their Pacific communities to deliver a football festival that was fun, free, and inclusive to showcase football as a sport of choice for Pacific peoples.”
Despite the rainy winter weather, the Auckland festival was well attended, with cultural performances and food in abundance.
“Northern Region Football Federation collaborated with clubs to deliver two programmes – Fantails, a junior football programme based on fun and friends and Walking Football, a version of the game that is accessible and enjoyed by a wide range of ages and abilities,” Hussain explains.
“These two programmes gave the communities a chance to participate in football activities outside of the five-a-side women’s and seven-a-side men’s football tournament, organised and led by Manukau City Football Club.”
Adding to the excitement, New Zealand Football President Johanna Wood presented Football Fern Rosie Ah Wong with her debut cap to recognise and acknowledge her debut in 1979.
“Rosie is the first Football Fern of Pacific heritage and the occasion to honour her was fittingly held at Football Fest and at Rosie’s original football club - Manukau City FC.”
Visit the New Zealand Football website for more details.