Auckland City will welcome back the New Zealand Communities Football Cup this weekend after a five year hiatus, as Somalia Wellington defends its title this year. Sixteen men’s and eight women’s teams from around the country will compete for top honours in this national tournament.
The tournament was developed by New Zealand Police in 2008 and receives sponsorship through Superintendent Wallace Haumaha, Deputy Chief Executive of Maori, Pacific and Ethnic Services.
“It continues to grow, bringing New Zealand’s diverse communities together, he says. “It’s been a real pleasure to attend this tournament each year and I'm looking forward to watching it continue to grow, diversify and bring our people together", says Supt Haumaha. “The tournament offers such a great way to integrate communities, celebrating their success and encouraging positive social change."
Tayo Agunlejika, Executive Director, New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils Incorporated says, “We are determined to ensure this grassroots event benefits the whole population including marginalised communities and maximise the positive impact of sport, especially for groups who are still struggling to access and participate in the elite events.”
Whangarei is represented for the first time, with the Solomon Islands team winning the inaugural competition. They’ll play alongside NZ Police, Zimbabwe, NZ Maori, Colombia, Fiji and Poland.
The tournament’s theme of Creating Positive Influence in Communities extends to a youth forum and football skills clinic for 60 local ethnic students, which precedes the tournament weekend. Current national sports players will speak as role models to encourage the students to engage in sports and healthy choices.
The tournament also supports and promotes the White Ribbon campaign to end men’s violence towards women. All players will be taking the White Ribbon pledge at the opening ceremony.
Supt Haumaha, former Police officer Councillor Alf Filipaina and Dame Susan Devoy will attend Saturday's opening ceremony. Auckland Mayor Phil Goff will be at Sunday's closing ceremony to officiate the prize giving.
The tournament kicks off this Saturday 26 November at 9.00am at Centre Park, Robertson Road, Mangere and runs until Sunday 27 November. It is supported by NZ Police, NZ Federation of Multicultural Councils, SportZone, NZ Football, Auckland Council, Human Rights Commission, Lion Foundation, Four Winds Foundation and NZ Communities Trust.
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History
NZCFC is a national tournament for the regional winners of community football events held over the past 12 months. This tournament is the culmination of more than 1,000 games of local-level football organised by city councils and regional multicultural councils.
The inaugural NZCFC event was held in 2008 and hosted by Wellington city. It was won by the Upper Hutt based Somalian team. Since then, it has been won by:
• Oman (Palmerston North),
• Poland (Christchurch),
• Somalia (Wellington) and
• Refugee Youth Action Network (Auckland)
• and by Somalia (Wellington) twice most recently.