Kiwi Girls with Balls pushing forward
Ali Riley, the US-born Football Ferns skipper, has many balls in the air
Spare time is a foreign concept for Ali Riley. She prefers to be on the move; spreading positive energy wherever she goes while meeting new people and bouncing between projects. For most female footballers, this constant state of busyness is a necessity as much as throwing oneself at life.
Riley is the Football Ferns captain, Chelsea star, food blogger, book club member. But it is her latest passion, the Girls with Balls podcast, that best bottles the myriad of challenges female athletes face in their ongoing push for equality.
Born and raised in the United States, Riley debuted for New Zealand in 2007 and has since played 119 games, the connection through her father, John.
After returning recently from a 3½-month injury layoff, she hopes to lead the Football Ferns to a historic World Cup in France this year — by making it out of their group for the first time — and follow that with a strong showing at next year’s Olympic Games, an event which determines the team’s future funding.
Riley spent the past seven seasons with Sweden’s FC Rosengard, where she savoured domestic success and reached the European Champions League quarter-finals.
It was there, in Sweden, just before joining glamour club Chelsea in July, she started the podcast. Eight episodes in, and Riley is fast creating a platform where fellow footballers speak openly about obstacles unique to the female game.
The last pod featured Danish captain and Uefa Player of the Year Pernille Harder and her partner, Chelsea-based Swedish fullback Magdalena Eriksson, in which they discuss the dynamics of their longdistance relationship, and facing off in career-defining matches.
From the Swedish recording studio to a one-woman, Londonbased band, this is but one venture Riley juggles amid her long list of other commitments.
“It’s been so cool to share the stories of these incredible women,” Riley says. “What’s different with the women’s game is most of us need to prepare for life after football or even some players need to be supplementing what they are earning from football with another job.
“You get these players who are starting companies, who are artists, musicians, getting degrees, learning languages. Maybe one day, we will be at a point where we don’t have to do these things, but right now, that’s where we are.
“It’s so inspirational and impressive that we dedicate the same amount of time to our sport as the men, but also have these lives where we put time and energy in more than one project.
“It’s empowering for the player to share and be proud of what they’re doing but also inspirational for everyone listening.”
In a light, revealing, upbeat manner, Riley canvases everything from injuries to transfer tribulations but discussions also delve well beyond the sporting field.
“Every player has a completely different story and I love being able to help share and give them a voice.
“A few of the players have shared about coming out and embracing their sexuality and being public about relationships. It’s a forum where I think we can inspire the next generation — not even necessarily girls or football players but people in general to dare to follow your dreams and overcome obstacles in lots of different ways.”
On a personal level, Riley is 31 and, thus, each year, life after football becomes all the more apparent.
With so many balls in the air, she appears well placed, though. Already with a degree in psychology from Stanford University, a
New Zealand Prime Minister’s scholarship allowed Riley to pursue integrative nutrition. Now a certified health coach, she is more interested in educating a captive audience than individuals — hence her blog of healthy food alternatives.
On the side, Riley makes raw balls for yoga studios but her website is not a money-making venture, with no sponsors featured. Rather, it is designed to offer insight into her daily life and the trend of embracing affordable, nutritious treats.
“Childhood obesity is a huge problem and that’s something I would consider working more with after football to inspire and show kids that it can be really delicious and easy to eat healthy and to include more vegetables and less sugar in their diet.”
Back in the round ball arena, Riley is one of four Football Ferns — Katie Rood (Bristol City), Olivia Chance (Everton) and Ria Percival (West Ham) the others — charting pathways for future Kiwi prospects in the FA Women’s Super League.
The future looks bright, after all, following the historic third-place finish from New Zealand’s under-17 women in their Fifa World Cup in Uruguay late last year.
Life at Chelsea is everything Riley envisioned. The club sits third in the 11-team women’s league; Riley even nabbing two rare goals as she enjoys stints further up the pitch than her accustomed attacking fullback role on return from injury.
Riley says Chelsea are at the forefront of advancing the women’s game but, across the board, much work remains.
Stamford Bridge, for instance, is reserved for the men, while the women play at Kingsmeadow in
Fulham.
“Chelsea definitely supports its players. I’m able to make enough money to live and save but it’s still not enough to not work after I stop playing football, so that’s why a lot of us keep that in mind and want to have options. As a female football player, that’s something we have to always consider.
“As much as we’re pushing the women’s game forward, there’s such a huge gap. You look at where the men’s game is going, with the salaries and fees, and there is still a long way to go.” The road to Riley’s fourth World Cup appears much less turbulent than it did during the turmoil that engulfed the Football Ferns last year, when widespread complaints of bullying, intimidation and a culture of fear under former coach Andreas Heraf led to his exit and that of NZF chief executive Andy Martin. Tom Sermanni has since been installed but the successful Scottish coach faces a hectic turnaround before the World Cup, starting on June 7.
“What happened last year was really tough and a setback but in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t halt our progress, it showed how strong and determined we are that we were able to go through that kind of investigation; stand up for ourselves and how we deserve to be treated as players by the federation and we’ve come out the other side with an experienced and wonderful coach.
“We’ve come so far from when I first joined the national team. We have the equal agreement with the men and the opportunity to fly business class to certain fixtures. These are things we couldn’t have dreamed of when I first played.”
New Zealand’s World Cup pool includes the Netherlands, European champions, world No 5 Canada and Cameroon, the clear target for their first win at this pinnacle event.
“It’s a group where anything can happen, so I think being one of the bottom two teams is actually a good thing.”
En route to France, the Football Ferns warm up with this month’s Cup of Nations; a trip in May to challenge the United States, three-time World Cup winners, and other yet-to-be-announced fixtures.
“If we’re not prepared after these games, we never will be. They will be really tough — it’s exactly what we need in order to be ready to play those teams in our group.”
Riley’s contract with Chelsea runs through to the Olympics, and she hasn’t glanced too far beyond that juncture. No great surprise, given her lack of down time.
“It’s hard to say no to things when they’re interesting . . . but I am getting a little pushed.”