The best female futsal players in the country will come together over three days from Friday for the right to be crowned New Zealand champions.

The Futsal National Women’s League will be held from February 23 to 25 at the ASB Sports Centre in Wellington and is part of a wider celebration of the female game with a Girls and Women’s Football Week being held simultaneously in the region by Capital Football.

The latest edition of the competition also arrives at an exciting time for women’s futsal with two new national teams, the Futsal Ferns and U-18 Futsal Ferns, having been established last year and the age-group side set to compete in the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina in October.

“We are very excited with the return of our premier women’s futsal competition,” says Josh Margetts, Futsal Development Manager for New Zealand Football.

“This pinnacle event is the highest level of domestic futsal on offer for these players and is a direct pathway for selection into the Futsal Ferns and U-18 national teams. The standard is continuing to be raised and I expect this year will be no different considering the amount of training and preparation being put in by all the teams.”

Futsal has experienced rapid growth throughout the country in recent years and the women’s game has been no different with participation rates continuing to climb quickly. 

Margetts says the Futsal National Women’s League provides an ideal opportunity for the grassroots and elite sides of the sport to come together.

“It is really positive to see that the vast majority of players competing in this competition are key members of our futsal community, regularly giving back to the game through coaching, refereeing and administrating various futsal activity,” he says.

“This competition will also be supported by some great community activity that Capital Football has organised for their Girls and Women’s Week. We are expecting around 500 junior girls to be involved in the opening festival on Friday prior to the first game kicking off. This is an excellent example of combining community activity with the performance pathway to promote further futsal opportunities to females in New Zealand.”

Last year, the trophy headed across the Tasman after Australian guests the Bayside Pirates edged out AFF Futsal in the final but they will not be back to defend their title, meaning the honours are guaranteed to return to these shores.

Having suffered heartbreak in the past two finals, the Auckland squad looks well-placed to push for the title again with six Futsal Ferns – goalkeeper Rivalina Fuimaono, Shivanthi Anthony, Hannah Kraakman, Dayna Manak, Jess Verdon and Maxine Cooper – in the ranks, along with U-18 internationals Jenna Dodd and Emily Gillion.

“We’ve got an experienced squad with 12 returning players, many for whom it will be their third national league campaign for AFF,” coach Nic Downes says. “There’s a good balance of different skillsets across the team, which gives us a few different ways to play, and everyone is focused and ready to go.”

In a change from previous years, the Central-Manawatu and Central-Hawke’s Bay sides will be competing under the same banner and are likely to challenge strongly after Manawatu claimed the title in 2016. Downes is expecting the newly-united Central and the Canterbury United Pride, who finished fourth last time out, to be the main threats but feels there will be no easy beats.

“The level of teams is improving year on year across the country so every game is going to be hard,” he says. “It’s a great time to be playing futsal and players will be looking to get themselves into the U-18 team heading to Argentina, as well as any future Futsal Ferns activity.”

Six of the country’s seven federations will be represented and the teams are set to play each other once with the top two going on to meet in the final on Sunday afternoon.

The action will be live streamed via the home page of the New Zealand Football website and the direct link can be found by clicking here

The draw for the Futsal National Women's League can be viewed by clicking here 

The squad lists for each team are as follows:

Northern Futsal: Leah Botica (GK), Hannah Reddy, Bernadette Goulding, Ashleigh Patton, Shania McIntosh, Casey Klyn, Helena Wiseman, Amy McQuiod, Hayley Hedges-Fickling, Anya Gross, Joanne Lammoza (GK), Jane Barnett
Coach: Hayley Stirling

AFF Futsal: Danielle Bradley (GK), Rivalina Fuimaono (GK), Jenna Dodd, Nadia Pearl, Shivanthi Anthony, Annie Byrne, Dayna Manak, Emily Gillion, Erinna Wong, Hannah Kraakman, Jessica Verdon, Milly McWhirter, Tessa Leong, Maxine Cooper
Coach: Nic Downes

WaiBOP Futsal: Sarathavy Kor, Chelsi Rys, Lilly Muspratt, Sophie Daly (GK), Hannah Reid, Leah Gubb, Helen Talbot, Grace Wisnewski, Chloe Henderson, Emma Cawte, Kate Williams, Grace Cox, Amanda Wilshier (GK), Monique Lowry
Coach: Brayden Lissington

Central Futsal: Cortney Norman (GK), Hannah Fitzgerald, Molly Woodhead, Tilly James, Ella James, Jenna Barry, Laura Nottle, Larissa Cable, Torijan Lyne-Lewis, Aimee Atkins, Aleesha Heywood, Casey Ralph, MacKenzie Barry, Mikaela Boxall (GK)
Coach: Mark Cozens

Capital Futsal: Sarah Alder, Jenna Reddy, Katie Barrott, Chelsea Empson, Claudia Barham, Francesca Grange, Ella Wilson, Jemma Hall, Megan Willis (GK), Nicole Dalley (GK), Emma Main, Libby Boobyer, Maya Hahn, Kelsi Rutene
Coach: Callum Holmes

Canterbury United Pride: Hannah Hegarty (GK), Kenzie Falco (GK), Rebecca Lake, Olivia Knight, Macey Fraser, Serena Patel, Hannah Robert, Lily Fisher, Tahlia Hermann-Watt, Gabrielle Rennie, Emma Clarke, Maggie Anderson, Britney-Lee Nicholson, Sophie Vos
Coach: Ronan Naicker