While the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 might have come to an end last weekend, the beautiful game is becoming a regular fixture in classrooms around Aotearoa New Zealand thanks to New Zealand Football’s schools programme Kōtuitui.

Since the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 kicked off, demand has far exceeded expectations for the programme, with over double the expected number of schools now registered, meaning over 35,000 ākonga | students will use football to learn about Aotearoa New Zealand’s bicultural and multicultural society.

“There’s such a big buzz around the World Cup now, with boys and girls getting into it,” says New Zealand Football community pathways manager and Kōtuitui project lead Shane Verma.

“There's lots of heroes on TV now, especially the Football Ferns, so Kōtuitui leverages off that to inspire a new generation of kids to be engaged in football and futsal, and show how the game can provide valuable life experiences as well.”

To put the programme into practice, Verma and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 mascot Tazuni recently visited Te Huruhi School on Waiheke Island, one of the first schools | kura to register for the programme, to run some of the football activities for the school’s year 3-6 students.

“At Te Huruhi we ran practical sessions based on the story of the Nine Stars of Matariki and explored how the students can create community connections with each other,” says Verma.

“Through the game the students figure out ways they can connect better with their classroom and their teammates, as well as how they can take those lessons into their own communities.”

Te Huruhi School student Noelle enjoyed the Nine Stars of Matariki, saying that the game made her more aware of the importance of communication with her teammates and community.

“If you’re going one direction for the ball and there's another person going with them, you can tell them, I'm going for the ball, you go this way. Or you can help your team mates especially if they're beginner football players, by talking to them and being kind and tell them ‘good job, good game’,” she explained.

Communication is just as important off the football pitch or futsal court, she says.

“It’s also important in the classroom, like when you’re talking to the teacher. Or if someone’s had a bad time at an old school, you could help them and be their friend and tell them they’ve done well, and support them when they try things they haven’t done before.”

With the tournament coming to an end this weekend, New Zealand Football chief executive Andrew Pragnell says he’s “blown away” by the programme’s uptake.

“We’d hoped to get a hundred schools on board, and there's now more than 265, and we’re expecting more schools next year.

“The great thing about Kōtuitui is how it’s embedded in the curriculum, so it’s not just a chance for us to try and get kids to play football. It's also a chance for kids to have genuine in-class learning opportunities around how they connect to their country, how they connect with their communities, and then they can use football skills outside of the classroom, to put some of that into practice.”

Kōtuitui is an outcome of Aotearoa United: Legacy Starts Now, New Zealand Football’s FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 leverage and legacy plan. Kōtuitui was developed under the plan’s Tiaki | People and Places pou | pillar. Read more about Aotearoa United: Legacy Starts Now here.

Kōtuitui was developed in partnership with Sport New Zealand (as part of its education project In Our Backyard) and supported by Māori Football Aotearoa. Kōtuitui is for primary and intermediate school students. It has two parts: classroom learning activities, and football/futsal experiences, with the classroom learning activities linked to the Te Ao Tangata Social Sciences curriculum. 

To learn more about Kōtuitui, including classroom learning activities and to register for football/futsal experiences, please go to https://www.kotuitui-sport.net/

Article added: Tuesday 22 August 2023