Girls Youth National League Qualification

Tauranga Moana makes history with Girls National Youth League qualification.

The FC Tauranga Moana (FCTM) U18 Girls have achieved a landmark milestone — as the first Bay Of Plenty side to secure qualification to the Girls Youth National League (GYNL).

Qualification was officially confirmed following a decisive final regional match, when they sealed their place among the nation’s top youth sides by beating Western Springs 6-0 in Auckland on Saturday. With this achievement, the Bay of Plenty has a place in New Zealand’s premier youth football competition.

This breakthrough is a testament to the collaborative Wāhine Programme, made possible through the combined efforts of leading Tauranga football clubs: Tauranga City AFC, Pāpāmoa FC, and Otūmoetai FC. Together, they formed FC Tauranga Moana’s female development pathway in 2023 —creating a unified structure to support female youth and senior talent in the region. This pathway includes the region’s first New Zealand Football accredited Talent Development Programme (TDP), which provides youth players with opportunities to regularly compete against some of the best youth teams in the country. In 2024, the FCTM senior women's team was promoted to the NRFL Premiership, regarded the best women's league outside the National League.

Maia Ririnui, FC Tauranga Moana Head Coach
"A key reason for establishing FCTM was to provide local female footballers with opportunities to play at the highest level from the Bay of Plenty. We’re now doing that for our youth and senior players. This group of young players has done a great job to push above quality Auckland-based teams to qualify for the Youth National League. We’ll now get to compete with the top youth teams in New Zealand. This in itself is a huge achievement but we’ll be going into these games positively and looking to finish as far up the table as we can. We have some very good young players and I’m looking forward to seeing them play on the national stage."

Brendon McHugh, FC Tauranga Moana Trustee
"This should remove any doubts about why we’ve been so passionate about collaborating with other clubs, as no single club in the region would’ve been able to achieve this. What Tauranga City, Pāpāmoa FC and Otūmoetai FC have done, for the benefit of their kōhine and wāhine members, is commendable. It’s been a long year for everyone involved, with a lot of learnings. But the opportunities are endless, and moments like this need to be celebrated. We hope the region will get behind the team and also look forward to seeing more clubs join this collaboration in 2026, as these opportunities should be available for the entire region."