Even more footballers across the country are being introduced to the best ways to look after their bodies as New Zealand Football’s Player Welfare Team continues to roll out Fit4Football Roadshows across the country.

Roadshows have already been staged through Football South in Dunedin and at Papakura City FC to tie in with the Auckland Football Federation Pre-Season Cup while there was also a strong Fit4Football presence at the hugely-popular U-17 Youth Football Tournament, held at Western Springs FC in Auckland over the weekend.

The Auckland events catered for both the Auckland Football and Northern Football regions while next in line are WaiBOP, Capital/Central and Mainland, who will all receive Fit4Football Roadshows this weekend. Each roadshow is being run by the local federation’s Player Welfare Officer and they are all excited to have the opportunity to further deliver the message preached by Fit4Football, an injury prevention and performance-enhancing programme developed by New Zealand Football in partnership with ACC.

In WaiBOP, the Fit4Football Roadshow will take place at the Don Rowlands Centre at Lake Karapiro on Sunday afternoon in conjunction with a beach soccer event.

“We are hoping to get a mix of players, coaches, parents and administrators from clubs around the region to participate in the conversation around player welfare as we are looking to reshape our Fit4Football programme for 2018,” explains WaiBOP Football’s Player Welfare Officer Louise Trappitt.

“The WaiBOP roadshow will be a collaborative event with the Fit4Football team running workshops, activations and challenges while WaiBOP host a fun ‘give-it-a-go’ beach soccer tournament at the sand courts. There are prizes to be won so we hope to see you all there.”

For Wellington’s Fit4Football Roadshow, Capital Football’s Player Welfare Officer Sadie Verity will join forces with her counterpart from Central, Nick Chong, to stage the event on Saturday at the region’s home of football – Memorial Park in Petone. Running alongside the Capital Football and Central Football Federation Talent Centre (FTC) Girls’ Game Day, the roadshow will focus on pre-match warm-up, post-match cool down and recovery, as well as key messages around player welfare and the female athlete.

There will also be an opportunity for the youngsters to meet some of their heroes as members of the Team Wellington squad will be in attendance ahead of Sunday’s home semi-final in the ISPS Handa Premiership against Canterbury United at David Farrington Park.

“Capital Football have been great at endorsing the importance of player welfare to their FTC players,” Verity says. “The Fit4Football team have already been at the National Age Group Tournament and FTC camps, and the inclusion of the Fit4Football Roadshow in the FTC Game Day is a natural fit for continuing the player welfare support our team offers.”

In the South Island, the activities will be led by Mainland Football’s Player Welfare Office Blair Minton, who is set to oversee an action-packed roadshow at English Park in Christchurch on Saturday. Again, the content is aimed at all youth players, coaches, parents and administrators with those in attendance receiving an overview of the player welfare culture New Zealand Football is looking to create before a series of breakout presentations take place.

Attendees will have the choice to hear about either the female player (a specific focus on issues relating to female athlete health and wellbeing), New Zealand Football’s Head Injury and Concussion Policy (including an interactive session on what to look out for and how to manage this) or the athlete environment (including content around health and safety, AEDs in clubs and child protection).

While the presentations are taking place, there will also be on-field entertainment in the form of zorb-ball games and the first Mainland Premier Women’s League match of the season at midday. This will be followed by two further Premier League men’s and women’s games to complete the day of activities. 

“Based on the range of content covered in our breakout groups, the hope is that we will see several different people from within a club context in attendance, whether that’s the players themselves or their parents, coaches or club administrators,” Minton says.

“With a variety of key information being shared and discussed, the hope is that they begin to absorb some of the themes and ideally take them back to their own environments with the help of the Fit4Football team.”

The focus of the Fit4Football Roadshows in 2018 is on the youth age group (12 to 19 years) with New Zealand Football and its Player Welfare Team targeting players, parents, coaches, managers and clubs associated with this age category. The recent U-17 Youth Football Tournament therefore offered an ideal opportunity to further spread the player welfare gospel and was grasped with both hands.

“It was a good time for us to be educating our football communities on key philosophies that can support their teams throughout the upcoming season,” Fit4Football Player Welfare Manager Megan Crockett says.

“We were able to run warm-up and cool-down zones, as well as a recovery zone that included ice baths to aid player recovery. There was also a chill out zone for the players to come and have some down time away from the game and off their legs to enable them to recharge for the next game,” she adds.

“The improved recovery between games will have enabled better performances on the pitch and it is hoped that teams will start to think about developing a player welfare culture for the season ahead.”

Upcoming Fit4Football Roadshows

Mainland Football Federation
English Park, Christchurch
Saturday 24 March, 10am – noon

Capital Football Federation
Memorial Park, Petone
Saturday 24 March 10am – 3pm

WaiBOP Football Federation
Don Rowlands Centre, Lake Karapiro
Sunday 25 March, 1pm – 3pm