The next step in women’s club football in the South Island is set to kick off this weekend as the inaugural South Island Championship gets underway.

Featuring the top two sides in Mainland’s Women’s Premier League (Coastal Spirit and Cashmere Technical) and Football South’s ODT Women’s Premiership (Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup semi-finalists Dunedin City Royals and Roslyn Wakari), the South Island Championship will be played as a single round robin competition followed by a finals day.

The first round will see the Dunedin teams play each other and the Christchurch teams play each other, with the subsequent two rounds played as double headers in Dunedin and Christchurch. The location of the finals day will be determined by the final placings of teams.

A joint venture by Mainland, Football South and New Zealand Football, the South Island Championship is a key step in developing domestic club football in the South Island, says New Zealand Football women’s competitions manager Georgina Gatenby.

“The South Island Championship is a key step in exploring the introduction of the South Island League for women’s football as outlined in the Delivery and Sustainability Project,” she explains.

“It’s a great opportunity to extend the domestic season for our top South Island women’s club teams, and provide quality games for the best performing club teams and their players in the South Island prior to women’s National League starting in September.”

Who’s involved?

Football Foundation Kate Sheppard Cup semi-finalists and unbeaten in the league having scored 80 goals and conceding only once in the league this season, Dunedin City Royals enter the competition as the team to beat.

The Royals have already had a taste of South Island supremacy this year, having beaten Cashmere Technical 3-1 after extra time (with the scores locked at 1-1 in regular time) in the Kate Sheppard Cup quarter-finals last weekend). Featuring Southern United stalwart Shontelle Smith, Chelsea Whittaker, Hannah Mackay-Wright and NZ Domestic Women’s Player of the Year finalist Rose Morton, the side has won the last 10 ODT Women’s Premiership titles (with nine of those as Dunedin Technical AFC).

After a strong season in the Southern Premiership, a young Roslyn Wakari also join the South Island Championship. Featuring the league’s joint top scorer Jasmine Prince, they rounded off their season with a 3-0 win over Otago University, having maintained a steady lead in the league over last year’s runners up to secure their spot in the Championship.

There’s a strong Canterbury United Pride flavour to the Canterbury contingents, with Cashmere Technical and Coastal Spirit featuring a swathe of Canterbury’s top footballing talent.  Led by Pride skipper Rebecca Lake, Coastal Spirit also have the services of the likes of Whitney Hepburn, Mel Cameron and Una Foyle to draw on.

Cashmere Technical, meanwhile, were recently bolstered by the return of former Ford Football Fern and Canterbury United Pride forward Aimee Phillips to Aotearoa and leading the line for Tech, as well as Pride players Mikaela Hunt, Kate Guildford and Kate Loye.

South Island Championship Fixtures

Round 1

Game 1 – 12pm
Dunedin City Royals FC v Roslyn Wakari AFC
Dunedin Football Turf

Game 2 – 1pm
Coastal Spirit SASFC v Cashmere Technical
English Park

Round 2 – played as a double header at Dunedin Football Turf

Game 1 - 12pm
Dunedin City Royals FC v Cashmere Technical

Game 2 – 2pm
Roslyn Wakari AFC v Coastal Spirit SASFC

Round 3 – played as a double header at English Park

Game 1 – 11am
Cashmere Technical v Roslyn Wakari AFC

Game 2 – 1pm
Coastal Spirit SASFC v Dunedin City Royals FC
 

Round 4

TBC depending on final placings

Article added: Friday 15 July 2022