HAMILTON – Organisers of the FIFA U’17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand later this year are determined that the event will leave "a legacy" of increased playing numbers and profile for the code.
These objectives were spelled out at a seminar hosted by the Local Organising Committee at Waikato Stadium yesterday.
Fifa development officer Glenn Turner noted previous flagship events in New Zealand had come and gone and not left the desired legacy, but organisers were doing all they could to ensure that was not the case on this occasion.
The event runs from October 28-November 16, with Hamilton the venue for one of the groups. The draw will be done on June 1 at Te Papa.
Women’s football was touted as "the future of the game" by speakers, because of its enormous potential for growth. Already there are 35,000 females playing in New Zealand, with one in three juniors a girl.
There were hopes the event could double the number of women’s teams in the region.
Turner said the tournament had an economic impact of $26 million.
"With figures like that it is very easy to open dialogue with organisations," he said to an audience which included Hamilton city councillors Pippa Mahood, Dave Macpherson, Peter Bos and Maria Westphal.
Fifa Head of Development Programmes and selector of instructors Juerg Nepfer said the close co-operation between stakeholders (such as the city council and clubs) should open further opportunities for the code for improved infrastructure.
He said there was a need for the tournament to be talked about in football circles, to be included in every speech, and for banners to be erected in the city’s streets.
Sky TV will broadcast games, with TV1 doing delayed coverage of key matches, and feeds going to up 160 countries.
Nepfer said there was a need to justify the U17s coming to places like Hamilton.
"The public must feel part of the event."
Heike Ullrich, Germany’s head of women’s football, spoke of her experience in preparing for the women’s World Cup in 2011, and the need for New Zealand to follow a similar lead in arranging for schools to "adopt a country" of one of the teams based in their city.
She said while Russia had provided magnificent facilities in hosting the 2006 Under 20 finals, the grandstands were empty, and the lack of atmosphere illustrated the need for crowds.
"We want full stadiums."
Organisers also want about 1200 volunteers nationally to help.
Tickets for the four Hamilton game days (double headers) plus a quarterfinal will be priced at $30 for adults and $20 for children. Organisers are offering a 10 per cent rebate for clubs selling 50 or more.
Other speakers encouraged fans to make the matches a festive occasion.
Club and school representatives attended from Hamilton, Rotorua and Tauranga.
Other parties included Waikato BOP Football, Wintec, council staff, and Chamber of Commerce representatives.