Women’s football is on the crest of a wave in Cambridge – and pathways are being created to help the next generation of players.
Cambridge High School’s 1st XI girls’ football team celebrate their win at the national Grant Jarvis tournament in Palmerston North last month.
The club ran a mentoring programme for youngsters this season – enabling 10 to 14-year-olds rub shoulders with the top women’s team.
Two players involved in the playoff victory over Onehunga Mangere to win promotion to the Northern League last month, Brooke Suisted and Sienna Frethey, also helped Cambridge High School win the national Grant Jarvis tournament in Palmerston North last month.
Among the former Cambridge players, Manaia Elliott has a full-time contract with the Wellington Phoenix and Natalie Young has been selected in the Football Ferns’ squad for this month’s U17 Women’s World Cup starting on October 16 in the Dominican Republic.
Elliott, a year 11 Cambridge High School student on Hamilton Wanderers’ books, began playing football at Cambridge Football Club when she was five and is a member of the RH3 Football Academy, run by former All Whites player and coach Ricki Herbert.
Cambridge Football Club’s top women’s team celebrates their promotion the northern league on September 29 with some of the players they mentored this season. – Photo Selina Oliver.
Rachel Lilburn from WaiBop Football’s marketing and communications team said girls’ and women’s football had grown 13 per cent on average across the region from 2023 to 2024.
Cambridge Football Club’s head women’s coach Scott Bult says providing visible pathways for girls into top-level football is vital.
He conceived the club’s mentorship programme for girls this season. It was set up and managed by senior player Hilary Eyres.
Participants watched each other’s games and had regular contact through the week.
“The young players go into the changing sheds, have a look at the set-ups and the warm-ups and what that looks like and they’re invited to come and have the after-match meal with us and just be in the environment, so they have someone to look up to,” Bult said.
Eyres said it provided a pathway to senior football for young players.
“We can see and hear the difference on the sideline each week at home games,” she said. “It’s so much fun to see our players connect with one another.”
Eleven-year-old Ada Blackstock was one of a dozen players to take part.
Cambridge Football Club’s women’s 1st XI keeper Aimee Archibald, 28, with the junior player she mentored this season, 11-year-old Ada Blackstock. – Photo Selina Oliver
Keen to learn more about the game and develop her kicking technique, she was paired with women’s first team goalkeeper Aimee Archibald, 28.
After receiving one-to-one training with Archibald and watching her home games, the Cambridge Middle School student was inspired to take up goalkeeping.
“Aimee taught me how fun it is and she taught me how to do it and it just got me more and more into it,” said Ada, who has a poster of Aimee on her wall.
Archibald said taking part in the mentorship programme and “being able to give back to the women’s football space” had been the highlight of her season.
“When the rest of the team is warming up, we’ve made it a thing that I have the young girls taking shots at me.We treat them almost like they’re equals in some way. We try to involve them as much as we can.”
She said Ada had been fantastic and “a real treat to mentor” and felt it was important to have female players involved in coaching and teaching girls.
“It shows players there is a pathway and a future,” she said.
Ada’s mother Bex, who helped with the programme, agreed.
“It’s important to have strong female role models who are also accessible,” she said.
Cambridge Football Club’s women’s 1st XI keeper Aimee Archibald, 28, with the junior player she mentored this season, 11-year-old Ada Blackstock. – Photo Selina Oliver
