Football coach focused on wellbeing in Wyndham
Meet the Wyndham Town Football President, highly regarded coach, Menzies College schoolteacher, and all-round good sort Carl Lambert who has been transforming a small towns wellbeing one goal at a time. Lambert, a former Southland Football Coach of the Year, is an incredible man who is passionate about helping the people of Wyndham.
After seeing the need and setting up the football club in 2017 with just the one senior women’s team, Lambert has worked tirelessly to fill the gaps. In 2019 the club he helped establish were able to add a further senior men’s team while the same year saw the addition of two junior 12th Grade teams.
Undeterred in the face of Covid-19, a worldwide epidemic that saw New Zealanders and their sport go into lockdown, the club continued to connect with its growing local members using an online football skills platform that allowed members to participate in a virtual Football Academy with challenges and tasks for players to connect with.
The 2020 season saw the club’s continued consolidation and expansion with players and coaches winning further accolades at the Football South Awards. This was the year that saw Lambert winning Coach of the Year as well as Senior Women’s player Laura Hill taking out the title as Southland Women’s Player of the Year. The same year saw the club a finalist in the Club of the Year award, only to be pipped at the winning post by Winton FC.
The current 2021 season has seen the continued meteoric expansion of the club with the addition of a further four junior teams. This has allowed local players from 6 to 16 years old to participate in one of New Zealand’s fastest growing team sports.
You won’t find Lambert resting on his laurels though. “I’m always looking at things to try and see if there’s anything new or something that I can try and incorporate into what I do or change,” he says. This has seen the locals’ club running a range of highly successful coach education courses where local coaches can be their very best.
Far from taking the praise for what has been achieved in this rural Southland town of just 550 people, Lambert credits the success to the spirit of the local community. “I’ve been very lucky because I’ve been able to work with a lot of talented people and a lot of talented players,” says Lambert.
To play your football at Wyndham contact wyndhamtownfc@gmail.com
