WAIMAK UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB SENIOR MATCH DAY PROGRAM Saturday 12th May 2018 www.waimakunited.org.nz Comments from the club This week our two premier teams are playing in knockout cup matches this weekend. Our Men’s CCL team are playing in round one of the ISPS Handa Chatham Cup against Coastal Spirit, beating Burnham Football Club 8 to 1 in the preliminary round. Our Women’s WPL team are up against Cashmere Technical in round one of the New Zealand Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup. Formally known as the Women’s Knockout Cup, the Kate Sheppard Cup was renamed on International Women’s Day. It is a club-based knockout competition, first played in 1994 as a pathway for players linking important strategic goals of New Zealand Football; ‘More Kiwis loving and playing football and our elite teams winning on the world stage’ (New Zealand Football). The announcement of the Kate Sheppard Cup was made on New Zealand’s 125th anniversary of New Zealand becoming the first self-governing country in which all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections in 1893. Kate Sheppard was a pioneer for women and it is very fitting for the trophy to be named after her. The tagline for the competition is ‘Make a name for yourself’ recognising Sheppard’s achievements. The Kate Sheppard Cup will see regional teams kicking off against each other before it goes into national games at quarter finals. The final is played as a double header with the ISPS Handa Chatham Cup final as part of the traditional end of the New Zealand football season in September. The reining cup holders are Glenfield Rovers who defeated Eastern Suburbs 5-4 at QBE Stadium in Auckland. Shane Verma, the Head Coach of our Women’s WPL team was interviewed this week about the upcoming round one game against Cashmere Technical. The article (next page) was featured on the New Zealand Football’s website this week. To find out more information regarding the Kate Sheppard Cup and the ISPS Handa Chatham Cup head to www.nzfootball.co.nz Head Coach Shane Verma (left) and Assistant Coach Duncan Reed (Far right) with their team- winners of the Youth Football Development Trust U-17 Tournament in Auckland in March. Youthful Waimak set to make mark The youthful Waimakariri United players may not be among the front-runners to lift the Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup this season but it is not likely to be long before they make their mark on the both the domestic and international scene. A batch of the most promising female footballers in the country have gathered at the Canterbury-based club and are honing their craft under the watchful eye of Shane Verma, also assistant coach of the Canterbury United Pride last season in the National Women’s League. The likes of Macey Fraser, Gabrielle Rennie and Jayda Stewart have already been capped by their country at age- group level and Verma is excited to see what the future holds for that talented trio, as well as other members of the Waimakariri squad. “I believe we have a fair few girls that are capable of kicking on and becoming professionals or at least playing for the Football Ferns in the future,” he says. “Obviously, there’s Macey, Gabi and Jayda who are involved in the New Zealand U-17s at the moment and we’ve got other young girls coming through as well. There’s a bright future ahead for a lot of these girls so I’m really excited to see where they get to in the next five or six years.” Due to the inexperienced nature of the Waimakariri line-up, Verma’s young charges are at long odds to win the Kate Sheppard Cup – making its first appearance this year after being re-branded from the Women’s Knockout Cup – and the goal is instead to progress past the federation-based stages. The first step towards that takes place on Saturday and will not be easy against an accomplished Cashmere Technical outfit. They are yet to lose in the Mainland Women’s Premier League and swept aside Waimakariri 5-0 in their most recent league meeting. Several key figures were missing for Waimakariri in that encounter though and Verma is expecting a much closer contest this weekend. “We’ve got more players available – there’s five that we didn’t have in the previous match,” he says. “So we’re quite confident going into it but it all depends on how we perform. If we play to our high standards then I believe the result can come our way.” A good run in the cup could make history for Waimakariri as the club does not have a rich record of success in New Zealand’s leading female club competition and is yet to claim a title. Indeed, the trophy has only ever resided in Christchurch twice – in 1994 with Nomads United and in 2013 with Coastal Spirit. Waimakiriri have had a taste of lifting silverware though with the majority of the senior squad also in the youth side that won the Youth Football Development Trust U-17 Tournament in Auckland in March. Given he has such a young group at his disposal, Verma’s priority is the personal development of each player but he must marry that up with the need to earn credible results for his club on the pitch. He feels this is not difficult though as achieving one aim tends to take care of the other. “We focus highly on our performance and believe that if the individuals perform well within the team structure then the results will come with that. The big thing for the girls that are involved in the New Zealand set-up and the rest of the team is that, if they do perform well, it will help elevate themselves and hopefully catch the eye of the national selectors.” One of the brightest prospects is Fraser but the U-17 international will not be available to face Cashmere Technical as she is still recovering from an injury. Her team mates will have to find a way past a former colleague as goalkeeper Blair Currie is now with Cashmere and will be doing her utmost to frustrate her previous club. “Blair is a fantastic goalkeeper so we know we have to work a little bit harder to make those chances in front of goal count,” Verma says. His players aren’t the only ones on a learning curve as Verma is also part of the highly-regarded NZF Coach Education Pathway and is currently working towards his OFC / NZF A-Licence – the highest qualification available on these shores. “Going through the pathway has been key in shaping and challenging my thinking over the past few years. This year I was fortunate to share knowledge with some of the brightest minds from New Zealand and abroad on the A-Licence and that is one of the highlights of my coaching career,” he says. There are five other matches taking place in round one of the Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup this weekend, below are all the match details. All of the results from the Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup will be available over the weekend on www.nzfootball.co.nz New Zealand Football Inc http://www.nzfootball.co.nz/newsarticle/62478 WAIMAK UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE VS Cashmere Technical 12 Noon Kick off- Garrick Memorial Park Coaches Comments We come into the first round of the Kate Shepard Cup, having drawn Cashmere Technical. The last outing between the two sides saw us fall to a heavy defeat to the 2016 League winners. The girls come into this match relatively fresh, having the last two weeks off due to drawing a Bye in the Rita Fitzpatrick and League. This has allowed several girls to return back to the squad, with the last match between the two sides seeing us playing out with 5 key players. We look to improve upon the last performance, and we have spent the past two weeks working hard for this fixture. We want to enter this match with a more aggressive mentality, with a strong hunger to put in a strong performance against a strong opposition. This group is full of a lot of potential, and we have yet to hit our full stride this year and every member in this team knows what it will take as an individual to put in a strong performance to help bring success to this team. Regards, Shane Verma - WPL Coach SHANE VERMA WPL Squad Coach Waimak United Women’s CWC vs Universities AFC Gold 9.15am at Kendall Park INTRODUCING OUR 2018 WOMEN’S PREMIER/CWC SQUAD SHANE VERMA DUNCAN REED MICHAEL POOLE RACHELLE GEORGE WPL Squad Coach WPL Coach CWC Coach CWC Coach TRUDY KEER-KEER N0. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 Squad Manager BRIAR GUYAN ELLA FONG REBECCA GILLETT LILY FISHER No. 5 (Squad Captain) No. 6 No. 7 No. 8 No. 9 SOPHIE WILLIAMS THAIS MUNOZ GABI RENNIE MACEY FRASER JAYDA STEWART No. 10 No. 11 No. 12 No. 13 No. 14 EMMA JOHNSON KAYLA THOMAS EMMA FELLOWES MIKAYLA NORTMAN CONNOR DUGGAN WOMEN’S PREMIER/CWC SqUaD PROUDly SPONSORED by INTRODUCING OUR 2018 WOMEN’S PREMIER/CWC SqUaD No. 15 No. 16 No. 17 No. 18 No. 19 MADDI SILCOCK LILY THOMPSON-HOOD LIBBY LATIMER GRACE CROSS HAZEL BILLCLIFF No. 20 No. 21 No. 22 No. 23 No. 24 RILEY FALCONER JESSICA COTTERELL JOHANNA KEER-KEER JAZ BALL ABBY DE VISSER No.