For a long time, female football in Tauranga has been under-served, says Maia Ririnui, a senior coach and wāhine executive committee member.

“Forever and forever, to be honest,” Ririnui said. “So we have had a situation where the a lot of our strongest players that have grown up in the Bay of Plenty have left.”

The alliance of three major clubs – Tauranga City AFC, Otūmoetai FC and Pāpāmoa – was designed to change that by providing a development pathway for women and girls.

“The main objective is to provide an environment for those younger girls who want to stay in Tauranga and push for things like national selections,” Ririnui said.

Tauranga Moana has already seen success on the international stage, with forward Grace Duncan scoring a goal against Fiji in the New Zealand Under-16 national side.

The success is not limited to an individual player, but a successful 2024 campaign saw the team move to the Premiership table, replacing Hamilton Wanderers, who were relegated.

“To see them all come together from different clubs, experienced players, younger ones, developing their own culture, was pleasing,” Ririnui said.

In that game, Football Club Tauranga Moana felled Manukau United 17-1 at Links Ave in front of the boisterous home crowd.

All the players from the different clubs could put any differences aside despite some uneasiness at the beginning of the season, Football Club Tauranga Moana, wāhine captain Ella Golding said.

“Everyone was unsure how it was going to go, but everyone got along well, and the season was awesome,” Golding said.

The team bonded during long van trips to Auckland, and the players wanted to do well for each other, according to Golding.

“We started to get along well off the field. So that helps on the field.”

The wāhine team’s success would not have been possible without the three clubs putting their differences aside to help grow female football in the region, Football Club Tauranga Moana trustee Brendon McHugh said.

The alliance was deemed necessary after the 2022 Tauranga City club made it to the premiership, only to bounce back down after a difficult season due to lack of depth, McHugh said.

“We had to collaborate to provide stronger pathways. It just made sense.”

Caleb Ward had coached the side for most of the season, but returned to Auckland after he was offered another coaching position.

“He did really well,” McHugh said. “We didn’t want to hold him back. We don’t hold anyone back.”

Getting more clubs around Tauranga to join with the other three clubs is paramount to McHugh, and he hopes that the other clubs in the area can see the benefit of growing wāhine football in the region.

“We put that olive branch out there to a couple of other clubs that we know have got good depth in female football,” he said. “To say, ‘let’s just make it super strong, super-inclusive, really cool’.”

The next step is to try to get more women into management and coaching roles, Ririnui said.

“My ideal is that the whole thing is ultimately governed, operated, run and coached by females. It would be great if we can get to that point.”

“So that’s something that’s kind of important to us.”

Next up, Football Club Tauranga Moana is preparing for the Under-19 tournament in Napier over Labour Day weekend. The club’s youth players will be back in training next week, said Rurinui.

Every player on the squad contributed to the successful season, said Ririnui, but special mention was made of the efforts of senior players such as captain Ella Golding, leading goal-scorer Briana Osborne and top defender Niamh Carter, who all performed consistently all season.

“It’s also been great seeing our younger players growing and contributing at this level and Grace [Duncan] has led the way there,” he added.