Girls and women from ages 4-40 partook in our first Have a Go Day for women and girls of the year. We had around 100 excitable footballers at Logan Park and for some it was their first time on a proper football pitch! It was awesome to welcome lots of new players into our whānau and see everyone wearing smiles on their faces. 

 

There were six stations for our players to get their teeth into, including refereeing/fun with flags, shooting practice, rob the nest and heaps more! We had volunteers from various clubs and organisations including Green Island AFC, Grants Braes FC, Southern United, Football Ferns and the Soccer Sister/Twilight League and without these kind helpers, the day would not have gone as smoothly. 

We were fortunate enough to have three Football Ferns playing their part at the event. Tessa Nicol, Blair Currie and Rebecca Lake truly got stuck in and saved the day with putting up our promotional flags prior to the event starting! It was great to have this trio of role models present for our players to look up to.

Blair, who plays for Southern United and Otago University Premiers, was stoked with how the day went, “It was so cool to walk around and see all the girls smiling and just having a great time!” She told us all about which activity she thought the girls had enjoyed most, “The refereeing course was great, the girls loved getting to give red cards – I think I got at least 12!” 

Tessa, who also plays for Southern United as well as Green Island AFC, was delighted by the turnout and reflected on the event, “It was great to see new girls who came along to give it a go, it can be really daunting to come and try a new sport!” 

Rebecca travelled down from Christchurch for the event and the Canterbury Pride captain loved being involved, “My favourite part about today was not only playing football with all the girls but joining in with the colouring competition!”  

Allys Clipsham, Football South’s Community Development Officer (G&W’s, Referees), was pleased with how the day went, “All involved made the event fabulous and I’d like to thank everyone who turned up, both participants and volunteers!” 

 

We’d like to give a huge thanks to everyone that attended and a special mention to our awesome volunteers and Football Ferns who were a massive help on the day! We have another Have a Go Day in a few days to be held in Oamaru. We’d love to see you there; you can sign up here: https://bit.ly/hagdoam  

Article added: Monday 08 March 2021