OVER ONE THOUSAND WOMEN GET A KICK OUT OF PLAYING SUB FOOTBALL

More than one thousand Auckland women have signed up to play SUB Football, a summer time brand of soccer, every week for the forthcoming season. Interest in refereeing is also booming, with seven female referees now holding officiating positions.

SUB Football, which was developed in New Zealand in 1998, is a summer sport, with seven players on the field and an unlimited number of substitutes. Competitions are held for mixed, men's and women's teams. In a mixed team, the goalkeeper may be male or female but no more than 3 male outfield players are permitted.

Stephanie Brown, who has been a SUB Football referee for the past eight years, believes there are a number of reasons that women are becoming increasingly attracted to the sport.

‘A lot of the women I’ve spoken to have said that they like the fact that SUB Football encourages mixed sides,’ explains Stephanie. ‘That means that groups of men and women that either want to play against each other or on the same team can participate in the same sport. It is much more inclusive than a lot of comparable sports out there.

‘A lot of women are also attracted by the no contact rule. They can have a good time playing and developing their football skills without worrying about being knocked over or injured.

‘On top of all that, it’s also a great way to keep fit,’ adds Stephanie. ‘In fact, recent research from the UK has shown that women can burn more calories playing football than doing an intensive workout at the gym. Women are realising that they can keep themselves in shape playing football and have fun doing it. It’s certainly not just a sport for the boys.’

SUB Football now has midweek modules running in Auckland and Melbourne, with plans to expand the sport throughout the rest of New Zealand. It is played on a pitch which measures 60 x 40 metres and games are 40 minutes duration. Players get three points for scoring in the main goal while hitting one of the sideboards is worth one point. The season runs until early March with a mid-season break between mid December and mid January.

This year there will be 192 Mixed teams playing at Auckland Domain each week. SUB Football is also running a Mixed Competition at Walker Park with capacity for 36 teams and a 24 team women's only competition on 13th February 2011.

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

LEAP IN BUSINESS MENTOR CLIENT SESSIONS SHOWS ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT IS STILL A CHALLENGE FOR MANY SMES

According to Business Mentors New Zealand, the nation’s only not-for-profit mentoring organisation, the country’s SMEs are still struggling with the after effects of the world wide economic dip. This is reflected in the fact that the number of sessions taken by the 1,600+ volunteer mentors has risen significantly since 2009.

‘In the last 12 month period, BMNZ assisted a further 2, 385 clients, with mentor meetings exceeding 9,000 for the year,’ explains BMNZ CEO, Ray Schofield. ‘This represents a 44% increase in meetings over the previous year and suggests that clients are often faced with addressing a range of challenges and opportunities that are of a greater complexity than in the past.’

‘Many small business owners have never experienced a business environment like the one we are operating in at the moment,’ adds Ray Schofield. ‘That means they may need a little more support, whether it is advice they require, someone to act as a sounding board for ideas or they simply need an empathetic person to listen to the challenges and difficulties that they are facing.