Celebrating our Women and Girls - June 2026 Update

The 2026 season has started strongly, with growth across both the Girls Academy and Senior Women’s teams. Of the 32 initiatives in our 2026 Women & Girls Plan, 15 have already been delivered, including:

• Expansion of the Friday Night Girls Hub to include U11s.
• Launch of the Swans Skills Centre for U8–U12 girls.
• Delivery of women’s community open training sessions and Mother’s Day events.
• Run the Line 101 and introduction to coaching workshops.
• Establishment of a user-pays referee service for Women’s Community teams.

We’re also proud to see current and former Springs players & coaches achieving success on larger stages …

• Ninja A-League Women’s Final representation: 
• Emma Pijnenburg (Football Fern, Wellington Phoenix, ex-Premier Player, Springs Academy graduate) and Marisa Van der Meer (ex-Premier player) both played in the final.
• Katie Rood (Football Fern, Girls Academy Manager, ex-Premier player) was a pre, post, and halftime Sky Sports TV pundit.
• Cill Duncan (ex-Football Fern, now playing for Division 1 Team Hot Springs) was part of the live broadcast commentary team.
• International representation has also been strong:

• FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027 - Oceania Qualifiers in the Solomon Islands:
• Katie Rood was Assistant Coach for Samoa.
• Nadja Tellenbach (Premier & Reserves Team physio and Back to Your Feet Physiotherapy) was referee physio. 
• Emma Pijnenburg and Liz Anton (Canberra United, ex-Premier Player, Springs Academy graduate) represented the Football Ferns. 
• Angelique Tui-Samoa (Premier goalkeeper) captained and Jaedeci Uluvili (ex Premier player) and Faith Moa (Springs Academy Graduate) represented Samoa.
• Emma Pijnenburg and Liz Anton represented the Football Ferns in 2 international friendlies v Haiti and Morocco in Spain.
• Hannah Saxon (Premier player) represented NZ Māori in a friendly match v Cook Islands.
• Maureen Fitzpatrick (U17 Academy and Women’s Reserves Assistant Coach) represented the Cook Islands in friendlies vs Afghanistan and NZ Māori.
• Charli Dunn (Premier player, Springs Academy graduate) & Ela Jerez (ex-Premier player) were part of an undefeated NZ U20 2-game tour to Australia.
• Evie Colgate (U14 Mixed NRFL) - co-captained an undefeated NZ U15 side in Fiji, and Mabel Brown (U14 Mixed NRFL) was named in the squad as a non-travelling reserve.

Junior & Youth Girls Football Event - Thu 25 June 5.30-6.45pm, Clubrooms

Hear from female players about their journeys in football through NZ age-group teams, Auckland FC development squad, NZ Secondary Schools team and US college scholarships. This is a great chance to learn, ask questions, and get inspired - don’t miss it!

If you’d like to learn more or help fund/deliver the Women & Girls plan, contact Julie Dunn or one of our Women & Girls Working Group.