Hedge will be based out of Wellington, where he has spent the last five years in various roles with Capital Football, first as director of football and most recently as football development manager.
Chris Canton, chairman of the Capital Football board, says while the federation will be losing a valuable staff member, it is a fantastic opportunity for Hedge.
“It has been exciting seeing the Whole of Football being implemented and all the different community programmes, we now look forward to further development of the talent pathway,” Canton says.
Having worked with talented youth players for over ten years and as assistant coach of the Junior All Whites (U-20) he has an insight into the development of the game in New Zealand and internationally.
“The Whole of Football plan will produce better players and coaches consistently, which will no doubt have a really positive impact on New Zealand on the international stage.
“We’ve come across some very talented players who haven’t really come out of any structured programmes. With a more coordinated approach we’ll be producing them by design rather than luck. Educating and growing more talented coaches in New Zealand to higher levels is the key, it’ll make a massive difference if we can get more top coaches working across our junior and youth players.” Hedge says.
New Zealand Football’s head of football development Bev Priestman says Hedge, who holds a UEFA ‘A’ Licence, would take overall responsibility for the talent arm of both the coach and player development framework.
“There was a lot of interest in the role both domestically and from overseas and Andy was the best from a number of applicants,” Priestman says.
“He is a specialist in coach education with a sound understanding and experience of New Zealand’s challenges and hands on experience in implementing the Whole of Football plan over the past couple of years.
“Coach development is a priority for us at this stage in our roll out, and the role involves lots of education and support to our seven federations in a practical sense, therefore Andy is perfect for the role.”
Hedge has extensive experience in coach education at the highest level and is a lead tutor on the New Zealand Football senior level 3 coaching course and recently assisted in the redevelopment of the senior pathway content.
The role will focus on developing coaching qualifications for the talented junior and youth level and refining senior coaching qualifications. Hedge will also oversee the development and roll out of Skill Centres for players aged eight-11 later in 2013 as well as support Federation Talent Centre and National Talent Centre concepts through coach and player development.
Hedge will start his new role on February 18.
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand Football visit www.nzfootball.co.nz

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