Francesca Rudkin: I knew we could pull off the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup

About three weeks before the FIFA Women’s World Cup began I asked the question: “Where’s the hype?”. Where was the excitement – it didn’t feel like we were going to embrace this event.  A texter said, “they’re trying to sell us something we don’t want.” I agreed.  I’ve seldom been so thrilled to say I was wrong. Shame on me for not having more faith in us as a nation, the players and the tournament organisers.  The FIFA World Cup has been as inspirational, epic and entertaining as everyone in the know told us it would be. It just turned out that even one of the biggest sporting events in the world couldn’t get us Kiwis organized in advance. Perhaps we need to accept that - unless Taylor Swift comes to town - we are never, ever, going to get ourselves organised in advance.  The crowds have been insane. While thousands of tickets may have been given away, people still headed out into some pretty dodgy New Zealand wintery weather to attend the games. The feedback has been the same whoever I’ve spoken to. They’ve loved the price of the tickets- it's an affordable outing for the whole family. The atmosphere was amazing; a family vibe without the agro which comes with some sports. It was fabulous to see the many international communities coming out in force to celebrated and support their teams. The football was pretty good too. It’s been an incredible experience for young people, especially for young girls, to see the best in the world in their backyard - to see how revered these players are, to see what it takes and what it means for these players to reach the pinnacle of a truly global sport.  The players have worn their hearts on their sleeves, facing cruel and crushing penalty shoot outs. They’ve dealt with having the world’s eyes on them and the expectations of their home nations. And we’ve lapped it all up.  Turns out, we’re pretty good at putting on world class events. I’ve always felt my teenagers are the generation that walked away from rugby and moved to football. The Black Ferns have done an incredible job bringing girls back to rugby – similar comments were made about the Women’s Rugby World Cup competition held here last year - but I still think football is only going to continue to grow and eventually dominate in this country.  The FIFA World Cup has done its bit and provided the inspiration, but more work needs to be done at the grassroots level to keep the momentum going. While younger children are picking up the sport, too many teenagers are stepping away from football because clubs can’t find enough players to field a team.  So, there is still plenty to be done – but in the meantime, thanks to all those who brought us the FIFA Women’s World Cup.  I knew you could pull it off.    LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.