NZ Football focus on future with new Ferns coach
New coach to be appointed after Tokyo Olympics could be given a contract that runs well past the Paris Olympics in 2024. Andrew Voerman
THE new Football Ferns coach could be handed a contract that runs beyond the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
And that was a factor in current coach Tom Sermanni’s decision not to reapply for the role once his contract expires after this year’s Tokyo Olympics, which was announced by NZ Football this week.
Chief executive Andrew Pragnell told Sunday News they would begin the process of finding a new coach for the national women’s team next week and hopefully make an appointment in August.
He also reiterated his hope that the team will be active in the international windows in September, October and November, after going almost 500 days without a match between their last outing, at the Algarve Cup in March 2020, and their Olympic opener against Australia on July 21.
The first task for the new Ferns coach will be preparing them for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup, to be hosted by New Zealand and Australia, where they will be seeking their first win at the game’s showpiece event.
But in outlining what NZ Football was looking for in its new hire, Pragnell made it clear performing in two years on home soil won’t be the be-all and end-all for a team that has stagnated in recent years after a period where they made consistent progress.
‘‘We think we can perform in 2023 and we think we will perform,’’ he said.
‘‘We’ll be backing the players 100 per cent, but one of the legacies of the 2023 World Cup I’d like to think will be more and more incredible performances at the 2027 World Cup and in 2031.
‘‘So it’s time to put a stake in the ground and move from a short-term focus.’’
Pragnell added: ‘‘We haven’t determined the exact term, whether it’s four, five, or six years, but this is about making sure that our age-grade sides are integrated, and we’re not just driven by the results just in front of us.
‘‘We won’t make gains if we keep just looking at the single event right in front of our nose.’’
The new Ferns coach is likely to oversee a period of transition, with a number of senior players expected to retire after the World Cup in 2023 or the Olympics the following year, which makes the desire to appoint someone on a long-term basis understandable.
But that was one reason why Sermanni will finish after this year’s Olympics, where the Ferns have been drawn in Group G, alongside the United States, who are the reigning world champions, Sweden, and Australia.
‘‘A job that went past the 2024 Olympics would be something that I wouldn’t be interested in taking on,’’ Sermanni said.
‘‘And to be fair, an organisation would not and should not want to be appointing someone who is 66 years of age for five or six years.
‘‘I don’t think that would be a prudent move from an organisation’s perspective.’’
Pragnell said ‘‘head coaching experience at pinnacle events and experience coaching senior women’s teams’’ would be key considerations as NZ Football begins its search.
‘‘It’s a really good opportunity for us to attract really highquality candidates.
‘‘We may not be able to remunerate the highest, but the appeal of the achievement that could be attained in 2023 and beyond is enormous.
‘‘This side’s not short on talent, so there’s an opportunity there to do something groundbreaking in front of a home crowd. So who wouldn’t be interested?’’
‘It’s a really good opportunity for us to attract really highquality candidates.’ NZ FOOTBALL CEO ANDREW PRAGNELL