SOME OF NEW ZEALAND’S BEST KNOWN CORPORATES FIGHT IT OUT ON THE SUB FOOTBALL PITCH THIS MONTH

Last Friday (15th October), teams from Fonterra, Maersk and KiwiRail battled it out in a series of SUB Football games. The competition is an annual tradition which pitches dairy giant Fonterra against two of its larger suppliers on the football field. This year the victors were ‘Inter Moolan’ from Fonterra, who were led by manager player Matt Baker.

Bill Davies, SUB Football founder says: `We're in the business of organising games for corporates and the companies they do business with. These three businesses get a chance to play each other while being refereed by a guy from Swire Shipping.'

Jane Quentin-Baxter, who has played SUB Football for the past seven years, was a member of ‘Inter Moolan’ the winning Fonterra team. She believes that SUB Football has become increasingly popular amongst corporates as it is more inclusive than many other sports, allowing men and women to play against each other. The game also caters for all skill levels, meaning no-one is left out. 'It also has the benefit of being professionally organised by SUB Football Network so you don't have to worry about the timings, referees, venues or anything like that,' adds Jane. 'You can just turn up and get on with enjoying the game!'

'In big organisations such as ours, there are dozens of people that you never run into day to day. When it comes to the suppliers, you might only ever speak to your contacts on the phone or via email. Getting together for SUB Football is great for networking and forming closer relationships with your colleagues.'

The corporate match this year took place at Victoria Park in Auckland and included eight mixed sex teams and four referees. SUB Football Referee Assignments Manager Stephanie Brown arranged for leading referees to keep the corporate teams in order. Top New Zealand Association Football referee Kevin Stoltenkamp was joined by Jan-Hendrik Hintz, who was an assistant ref at World Cup and Nick Waldron who is seeking FIFA accreditation.

For more information on SUB Football, visit www.subfootball.com