Issue Four

2nd May 2020 Newsletter

Waimak United Football Club is the largest football club in North Canterbury. We provide football experiences for all abilities from the ages of 4 years and over. 

Due to COVID-19 the season has been postponed to start Saturday 30th May for both Mainland and In-house, however we will keep you up to date if these dates change.

As a country we have moved into Level 3 for Covid-19. Please see the chart below for Sport and Recreation in Level 3. We are currently waiting for updated information around what Level 2 looks like for Football. Once we have this information from NZ Football we will pass this on to our members.

A message from WUFC's FDO Adam Keizer

It’s been an interesting week for me, mostly spent home schooling my two children and taking part in a variety of zoom meetings, webinars and emails with people from across the world. The lockdown has given me a chance to think about different people I have connected with over the years, in football and personal life, and it’s been enjoyable getting back in touch with old friends and colleagues. It’s also reminded me how much I have learnt from so many different people of all sorts of walks of life, some who are no longer with us but have left a lasting impact on my life. The Isaac Newton quote “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants” is quite poignant when we really think about who we are and how the people around us, and before us, play such a huge role in our own lives. Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers details there’s no real ‘self-made success’ , everyone at some point who has achieved something has been helped either directly or indirectly by someone, or has been presented with a situation to succeed due to the actions of others. Anzac Day recently was another opportunity to remember and reflect on the sacrifices and endeavours of those who came before us, many who gave up their own lives to protect others, including future generations who should never forget how lucky we are thanks to a generation of brave and selfless heroes.

There’s many people who have helped and influenced me throughout my own life, too many to mention here, and when I take the time to really think about the people and moments over the years it’s been a great reminder to realise how these experiences have shaped who I am today. As part of my B Licence there is a Self-Reflection task, which goes a lot deeper than I expected, but has been an enjoyable and fascinating exercise. I’ve had to explore how difficult moments and traumas in my life, particularly in my childhood have impacted me and how even at a young age I was always quite confident and positive when dealing with challenges. I grew up in a town with a lot of other kids who had really difficult home lives, with alcoholic and drug addicted parents and living in extreme deprivation, and I can remember as a child always appreciating the fact that I had a family who loved me and cared for me. I’ve been lucky to have some really positive role models in my life, my older brother played a big part in protecting me and supporting me throughout my early years and I can remember football coaches and teachers who had a lasting influence on me. I can still remember individual training sessions from when I was about 9 years old where I was praised for shielding the ball, I can still picture that moment which shows how even the smallest moments in our lives, especially in our childhood, can stay with us for a lifetime. Equally I can remember negative experiences from when I was a kid, coaches who would talk and act in a way that would never be acceptable nowadays, and so it’s really important to realise as a football coach the impact we can have on youngsters, small moments to us at the time be it a training drill, a match, a conversation, or just a comment can be big moments in the lives of our players. Only a couple of months ago our Men’s reserve team had a friendly against my old club Coastal Spirit, who I coached for between 2008 and 2011. It was quite amazing and extremely humbling to have parents and players, now young adults aged 19 +, coming up to me and thanking me for coaching them when they were small children and remembering training sessions, after school programmes and holiday clubs from 10 years ago. It’s my favourite thing about working with young people, having an opportunity to be a positive role model and influence on their lives in whatever small way I can and to help create fun moments and memories that can last a lifetime. 

It will be interesting to see how our lives are shaped coming out of this lockdown and moving beyond a moment in the world like nothing most of us have ever experienced before. It’s going to be important for our local community that we all play a part in trying to support local businesses, friends and families and those around us and I know our club will be committed to doing as much as we can to be part of that. Amy and I have been discussing different ways Waimak United can serve our local region, from free community football projects and working with local schools, preschools and businesses to make sure football can provide a welcome relief for many once we come out of Level 3 lockdown. Sport plays a huge role in many people’s lives, of all ages and so it’s important that we are ready to be creative, resilient and resourceful over the coming months and years to make sure North Canterbury has a football club that is sustainable and successful, both in the short term and the long term, and so we look forward to working with all our club members and many others within our community to achieve that.

Enjoy your weekends and as always if anyone needs to contact me please email fdo.waimak@yahoo.com.

Adam Keizer – Football Development Officer.

Keeping Active During the Lockdown Period

Check out this weeks Home Training Programme delivered by NZ Football. Click on the link to access Week 4 Home Training Programme. Click Here

We also have WPL player Freya Lodge-Whitham with Football Workout at Home. Check it out on Sky Sport Next Click Here

Player of the Week! Mikey Ilett

This week we profile one of our junior male football players who loves the Spurs!

If you are interested in being the player of the week email Adam at fdo.waimak@yahoo.com.

Sponsor of the Week- Supporting Local!

We would like to take the opportunity to turn the spotlight on some special local businesses who have been helping us over the years. Please remember these wonderful businesses after the lockdown is lifted and support local when possible.

Prior to lockdown our U17's Girls were in preparation for the U17 National Youth Tournament in Auckland. The girls had worked hard on and off the field to get organised for the trip. Unfortuately due to Covid-19 the tournament held by Western Springs was postponed. We would like to take the opportunity to thank all the businesses who sponsored the girls, for their support and kindness in sponsoring each individual player. We are optimistic and thinking postive that the tournament will be able to go ahead at the end of the year!

waimakunited@xtra.co.nz fdo.waimak@yahoo.com www.waimakunited.org.nz