Congratulations to Northern Region Football (under the Northern Football Federation name) who have been shortlisted for the Leadership in Diversity & Inclusion award at the Sport New Zealand Sport and Recreation Awards. 

The Federation  have been nominated for their Coaching Course which was provided in Mandarin for the first time in 2019. 

The awards panel noted:

"The Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion Award recognises innovative initiatives which support diversity and inclusion within sport and recreation, such as access, participation, leadership and community connection.

The Northern Football Federation strives to cater to the emerging demands of the respective regions it governs. With the changing demographics of New Zealand and Auckland in particular, the Federation recognised how elements such as language barriers and cultural differences have previously prevented and limited the conversation and interaction between the Federation and other community groups.

Recognising that these barriers exist, Northern Football Federation decided to look at ways to tackle the barriers. One approach they have taken is the translation Initiative. This initiative started with the translation of the entry level senior coaching course into mandarin. The response was resounding with 23 people attending, leading to the translation of a further course, New Zealand Football's Level 1 referee course.

The success of the initiative has emboldened the game and shown how sport can bring diverse ethnic communities closer together through a shared interest and passion. They are now looking at expanding the translation initiative to further engage communities."

John Limna, GM of Operations for the NRF said:

"This is an acknowledgement of the work of Alvin Cheung and Mel Giles who led the diversity and inclusion space supported by all staff but in particular Alec Wilson, Korouch Monsef and Hayley Stirling. Also we thank Jamie Milne who coordinated the submission to Sport NZ."

The winner of the award will be released later this month.

Article added: Wednesday 19 August 2020