Former All White Aaron Clapham is set to return to the international fold as assistant coach of the New Zealand U-17 men’s team while Michael Mayne has been appointed in the same role within the U-20 men’s set-up.
Clapham, who announced his retirement from playing two months ago, has been Director of Football at Christchurch club Cashmere Technical for five years and previously acted as a youth coach for Canterbury United and Mainland Football.
He is currently in the process of earning his OFC/NZF A Coaching Licence and will work alongside U-17 men’s head coach Martin Bullock.
The Canterbury United stalwart made 13 full international appearances for New Zealand and was a member of the All Whites squad at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
“I’m passionate about football in this country and am looking forward to helping our talented young players develop and push on to bigger and better things,” Clapham said.
“I believe there is great potential for our players to achieve and perform on the world stage and am looking forward to learning from Martin’s experiences as we help develop future All Whites.”
Mayne has previously operated in an international environment with the U-17 and U-20 women’s national teams and has also held roles at federation and club level with Waitemata, Melville United and WaiBOP Football.
As well as working alongside Tony Readings as assistant coach of the U-20 men, Mayne will perform the same role under Leon Birnie with the U-17 women’s national team.
“My experience in Uruguay with the U-17 women has been my career highlight to date and to have the chance to exceed expectations at future World Cups is hugely motivating,” said Mayne, who holds an NZF/OFC B Licence and completed an A Licence through Football Federation Australia (FFA) at the end of last year.
“I was lucky enough to captain New Zealand at U-20 level and I have always had a coaching goal of getting back into that programme to share some of the learnings from my time in the game.”
In another coaching appointment, Ruben Parker has been confirmed as goalkeeping coach of the men’s U-17 national team.
Parker has played in the ISPS Handa Premiership for Canterbury United, Hawke’s Bay United and Auckland City, and is currently with Auckland-based club Western Springs.
In addition to his playing career, Parker runs a goalkeeping academy and is passionate about developing young goalkeepers.
Courtesy of New Zealand Football
Ends