Safety first for Southland Football resumption

Southland Football is looking forward to a resumption of competition at Alert Level 2 but the key focus is to ensure that the code can do so safely.

Chairman of Southland Football Nick Hamlin says, “we will start as soon as we are comfortable that we are complying with the government requirements. We are keen to get back to our sport, it is a big part of life for Southland families.”

The organisation will resume on a good footing with the Annual Report, presented at their recent AGM, recording that participant numbers last season were particularly strong throughout school, junior, youth and senior levels while both summer and winter competitions were well subscribed.

So too was Futsal, a five-a-side indoor modified version of football, which has grown from 32 teams in 2016 to 103 teams in 2019 while the organisation also reached capacity at several tournaments throughout the season.

Southland Football Manager, Ignacio Sande, says, “its been great to see a consistent increase on participation in the junior space. Each year, more girls and boys through the local clubs and schools, get the joy of playing football and futsal.”

Southland Football has continued to invest in the development and growth of clubs and Southland continues to have the most affordable club memberships in the country thanks to funders and sponsors while there are high rates of club member satisfaction in the region.

Several player/coach development programmes have been offered to women and girls and the Southland United Girls Team won the U12 South Island Tournament in Blenheim last season.

While there was no football at Level 3 the organisation was working very closely with the Ministry Of Health and NZ Football throughout while also working closely with clubs to understand their wants, needs and the challenges they are facing.

As lockdown continued Southland Football utilised their social media channels to provide ‘stay at home challenges’, fitness and skill sessions as well as Community Coaching Workshops, a continuation of their pre-lockdown philosophy to invest in development and the growth of clubs with a range of courses, workshops and one on one support across the region.

Southland Football are grateful to Football South, New Zealand Football, ILT, ILT Foundation, Community Trust South, Southern Trust, 2 Tyre Tracks & Hire, South Port NZ Ltd and Walker Murdoch Law Ltd for the support of their code in Southland.