Tāraitia a Anamata | Create the Future

Northern Region Football (NRF) is excited to formalise a partnership with New Zealand Football Foundation (NZFF) and Māori Football Aotearoa (MFA) working alongside Papakura City FC (PCFC) and neighbouring low decile primary schools Park Estate School and Edmund Hillary School. The growing relationship comes off the back of ongoing talks with Dr. Michele Cox (NZFF), Phillip Pickering-Parker (MFA) and Kieran Nevey (NRF); a partnership which will be brought to life through one of six NZFF community football grants.

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

“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.

NRF are thankful for the financial support of NZFF and honoured to be collaborating with NZFF and MFA, two organisations of which are leading in bringing about positive social change outcomes in our game in Aotearoa.

Counties Manukau NRF Area Manager Kieran Nevey is excited about the direction and potential for the game after seeing an emphasis on inclusion displayed in the latest successful NZFF grant applications.

“We hope this partnership is the catalyst to change the narrative around inclusion within our game and provides a framework for others to leverage outcomes to enhance local communities throughout Aotearoa.

The excitement and potential is twofold;

• by connecting with multiple partners, aligned through a common kaupapa, we ensure high quality outcomes for all community stakeholders, and secondly,
• we are able to take a small but meaningful step to respecting the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and in-turn bring about a more socially inclusive football whanau”, said Nevey.

The initiative looks to co-create, resource and deliver a Māori inclusion initiative adopting principles which empower locally-led, sustainable partnerships which the Papakura community can build upon into the future.

NRF and the New Zealand Football Foundation will be following the initiative closely including ongoing coverage of the journey.