June Newsletter 

Waikato Stadium "too good to play rugby on"

Hamilton is looking forward to welcoming teams from Japan, Paraguay, France and potentially the USA who will be living and training in the city during the lead up to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. 

Delegates from Japan, Denmark, England and Germany visited Hamilton last week to inspect Waikato Stadium and the four training sites.

All of the team representatives said they are also looking forward to coming back to Hamilton during the tournament. The English delegates visited Hamilton in preparation for the quarter finals, if they are lucky enough to progress.

The highlight of their visit was Waikato Stadium, with it’s flawless turf and world class facilities. The English head coach, Lois Fidler believed, "the turf was too good to play rugby on". Lois' comments were echoed by Hiroshi Yoshida, the head coach for Japan.

“The facilities are very good, the pitch too. I was quite happy to be coming to Hamilton”, Yoshida
said. “I‘ve been to other cities and I’m looking forward to coming back.”

With such a great facility the Hamilton City Council and FIFA Venue Organising Committee Waikato hope to create a festive atmosphere for the teams playing in the pool games and quarter finals at Waikato Stadium.