Wanaka AFC embarks on 'ambitious project'

Published in The Wānaka App

Wānaka AFC’s premier men's team scored a 6-2 win over Green Island on Saturday (August 31), securing its best-ever finish in the Southern Premier League and a chance at promotion to the Southern League competition.

The team finished the 18-round Southern Premier League in second place behind league winners Mosgiel, who have declined to contest promotion to the Southern League, handing that opportunity to the Wānaka club.

“It's a super ambitious project,” Wānaka AFC director of football Ben Sippola said.

Ben said promotion to the Southern League - “the highest level of amateur football in New Zealand” - would require the club to bolster its resources.

“The club will need significant financial backing to make something like this promotion go forward.”

“But the opportunity is really incredible to have a boutique, almost semi-professional football team in Central Otago, [is] something for the Wānaka community to really get behind.”

To gain promotion to the Southern League, Wānaka AFC will need to beat the winner of FC Nelson v Waimak United, and the playoff match will be hosted at a neutral venue in just over two weeks.

Ben said the team will continue its training programme leading up to the promotion playoff and keep match-fit with internal matches utilising the club’s youth players.

“We'll make sure that the players are first and foremost, healthy fresh, and that we build some fitness over the next three weeks, and that we also continue to build the incredible team camaraderie that we've been able to and culture that we've been able to cultivate over a long season,” Ben said.

Wānaka AFC said they will inform supporters as soon as they know the venue for the playoff match and hope to provide supporter buses.

PHOTO: Steve McArthur