Community Football Projects Receive Funding Boost

The New Zealand Football Foundation is delighted to announce six new grant distributions following the latest round of grant applications aimed at making an impactful contribution to the New Zealand football community.

Over $66,000 will be distributed across the six applications which will support a wide range of initiatives from all over the country at different levels of the game including New Zealand Football, Regional Federations and cultural organisations.

New Zealand Football Foundation Chair Jodi Tong was pleased to be delivering a second grants round in 2020, and to approve such a wide variety of initiatives.

“The level of applications we received in this round of applications was fantastic and we are excited to be able to support such a wide range of initiatives across New Zealand’s footballing community.”

“We were particularly excited to see a number of the diversity programmes being proposed.  Our aim is to contribute to a better New Zealand, through and for football and so we look forward to seeing the impact of these initiatives over the coming months,” said Tong.

Ryan Nelsen, Patron of the New Zealand Football Foundation is also pleased to see the great work being done throughout New Zealand to ensure the future of the game.

“It’s great to see the amazing diverse work being done across all levels of the game. This is exactly why the Football Foundation was set up and I’m proud to be a small part of it.”

Speaking on behalf of Māori Football Aotearoa, who were successful in their application to inspire more Māori players to get into football, Lawna Kani said:

“Māori Football Aotearoa are very appreciative of the generous grant we have received from the NZ Football Foundation. This will help us to reach out to our communities and grow the awareness of Māori playing football within Aotearoa and enable us to work collaboratively with mainstream pathways,” said Kani.

Following on from the grants awarded to SAE Academy (South Auckland) and WAIBOP Football Federation (Tauranga/Hamilton) in the first grants round earlier this year, the approved 2020 round two grant applications are:

• ‍New Zealand Football’s Green Shirt Respect campaign – grant to support new referees by addressing dissent and abuse directed against referees.
• Maori Football Aotearoa – grant to inspire Māori players in the community to advance from grassroots through to domestic and international representative opportunities.
• Mainland Football Federation – grant for a joint programme of work between football and cricket to promote sport within the Muslim community in Christchurch.
• Central Football Federation – grant to support the recruitment of female coaches in secondary schools and the community in partnership with their Regional Sports Trusts.
• Northern Region Football – grant for co-creating, resourcing and delivering a Maori inclusion initiative for increasing participation of Maori leaders and players in football.
• New Zealand Football (in collaboration with Trent Media and UltimateSoccer) – grant to raise the awareness of our past All Whites and Football Ferns over the last 129 years.

For more information on the New Zealand Football Foundation grants process please visit footballfoundation.org.nz or contact the Football Foundation’s Chief Executive Dr Michele Cox at michele.cox@footballfoundation.org.nz or on 027 475 4127.