Ferrymead Bays Junior Football Club

The competitive nature of girls football is evident in this junior girls photo - Ferrymead Bays currently has 3 girls-only junior teams.

Ferrymead Bays junior boys relaxing after a hard-fought Saturday game - Ferrymead Bays currently has 17 mixed/boys junior teams.

The Sumner Ferrymead Foundation has found another worthy community grant recipient in the Ferrymead Bays Football Club. The club has been awarded a grant to acquire practice equipment for their junior league. Through this donation, the Foundation hopes to support the club in its continual growth and improve the experiences of junior players through the acquisition of high-quality equipment.

In conversation with the club's Community Development Manager, Ren Cameron, we learned that the club boasts an impressive membership of around 700. These members span a spectrum from the keen age of 4 to the seasoned expertise of 72. Among these, 220 are juniors, who will be the specific beneficiaries of this round of funding.

The positive impacts of the Ferrymead Bays Football Club are not limited only to play on the field. The club serves as a hub for creating social connections between players who reside in the same community but may attend different schools. This offers the opportunity and enables friendship and teamwork between many people with differing backgrounds. Beyond physical fitness, the club values leadership, cooperation, and quick thinking, enriching the lives of its members beyond the confines of the field, the bonds of camaraderie built between players persisting rain or shine can last a lifetime. Young people who are both physically fit and confident, develop quick wits, and know how to cooperate in a team are the most valuable resource to any community, and indeed to their country as a whole. For these reasons, the Foundation believes supporting the football club to be worthwhile.

The Ferrymead Bays Football Club is linked with the Football for All program which supports refugee and immigrant families who have recently arrived in the region to find a place in local football clubs by providing fully funded participation, equipment, transportation, and individual support to foster inclusion and remove barriers.

The Sumner Ferrymead Foundation is offering four $5,000 and one $10,000 community grants to clubs, groups, and organisations in the Foundation’s catchment area – from Taylors Mistake to Mt Pleasant, around to Heathcote and across to Brookhaven - to celebrate 30 years of helping the local community. “It’s quite a milestone so it seemed a good opportunity to provide $30,000 for community projects to mark the 30 years,” said trustee John Christensen.

Information on the community grants is available on the website www.sumnerferrymeadfoundation.co.nz