New Football Club for Girls Panmure, Auckland
A new sports club for girls is turning heads in Panmure, Auckland.
Football coach Haley Gleeson said The Football Girls was entering its third week "and the reviews are just fantastic."
The Mt Wellington resident launched the program at Uni Bohemian Club for players aged 5 to 12 years old, some newcomers to the sport.
Helping to train the youngsters are a few 16-year-old girls whom she coached in the past.
"They are wanting to become New Zealand players one day so (it's) great to have them role modelling."
Gleeson said the New Zealand under 17 girls would be signing autographs and starting a mentorship program with the players once Auckland had dropped back to alert level 2.
Naturopath Annaliese Jones would speak to parents about supporting their children through nutrition and pre-puberty.
"A big emphasis on my program is around good mental health.... learning skills to self-regulate," said Gleeson.
Trish Du Temple, who has studied mindfulness in sport, will teach the girls about preparation and stress.
Gleeson said New Zealand was losing its children to suicide, Kiwis tried their best but had to stop being the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.
"We need to help them earlier feel a part of something," she said.
"I hope this is the program that can save some lives and make kids feel less alone."
Gleeson said everyone developed in their own time and she wanted to validate and appreciate that in each individual.
"The pressure to compare is a lot and we take that away," she said.
"We want the girls to remember, 'be more you.' We teach girls to learn leadership, show up, ...when its tough, strong back - soft front. "
Natalie Lawerence, NZ Football Ferns Programme and NZ under 20s assistant, said New Zealand had a unique opportunity right now to inspire and retain females in the sport.
"... knowing they will be watching their favourite Football Ferns at a home world cup is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see their role models in action," she said.
"Programmes like The Football Girls are really important to help create a level of excitement for our girls who love playing football."
Go to: Hello@thefootballgirls.co.nz for more information.
Scam Alert: Bank cold calls
ASB is warning customers about reports of cold calls from scammers claiming to be from ASB. These scammers are trying to obtain personal information, including usernames, dates of birth, and verification codes sent to your mobile phone.
🛡️ The "Caller Check" Test
If you get a call from someone claiming to be from ASB and you’re unsure, just ask them for a Caller Check. You will then be able to verify the call through the app.
Remember, banks will:
❌ Never ask for your banking passwords, PINs, or verification codes
❌ Never need to know your full credit card number – especially the CVC
❌ Never ask you to download software or remotely access your device
❌ Never ask you to purchase gift cards or transfer funds.
If you have received a phone call and think your account has been compromised, call ASB on 0800 ASB FRAUD (0800 272 372), or visit your local branch.
🧩😏 Riddle me this, Neighbours…
I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I?
Do you think you know the answer?
Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed? No worries! Simply head here and click once on the Following button.
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Loading…
