New Zealand Soccer Academy Fuels 78 National Team Players

When New Zealand shocked Chile 4-1 last Monday, seven of the 19 All Whites players on the field came from the same place: a soccer academy in Lower Hutt funded by one determined investor.

Rob Morrison, chairman of the Wellington Phoenix, has poured millions into the academy since 2013. His investment has produced 78 national team players across men's and women's soccer in just seven years.

"There is no sport or club that I can think of in New Zealand that would come close to that," Morrison told The Post. Yet he says the achievement goes largely unappreciated, even within soccer circles.

The numbers tell a remarkable story. Seven current All Whites starters learned their craft at the Phoenix academy at Fraser Park in Taita. Two more injured players who would be first-choice selections also graduated from the program.

Morrison estimates that 20% of New Zealand's World Cup squad in June could be Phoenix academy graduates. Several have already moved to European clubs, with Sarpreet Singh signing with Bayern Munich, Libby Cacace joining Wrexham, and Ben Waine playing for Port Vale.

The academy currently hosts 180 players from age 13 upward across eight teams with full-time coaches. Five teams are men's, three are women's. Each player costs the club over $10,000 annually, though many attend on scholarship with parents paying a maximum of $4,500.

Morrison recalls a 2013 dinner where New Zealand Football representatives told him they had "no interest" in professional soccer pathways. He and his brother Lloyd decided to fill that gap themselves with private funding through their Welnix group.

The academy absorbed the Christchurch-based Asia-Pacific Football Academy in 2013 and has welcomed 400 to 450 players since then. In 2021, they added their first women's team under director Emma Humphries, a former Football Fern and Canada under-17 women's coach.

Fourteen women from the academy have secured professional contracts, including Macey Fraser, Emma Main, Manaia Elliott, and Daisy Brazendale. Current Phoenix star Pia Vlok studies at the academy's new charter school, the New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa, which opened this year in Upper Hutt.

The Ripple Effect

Morrison's investment extends beyond individual players. By creating a professional pathway where none existed, he's changed the landscape of New Zealand soccer. Players who might have never developed their potential now have a clear route from age 13 to professional contracts in Europe.

The academy operates at a significant annual loss, but Morrison sees potential for sustainability through international students and possibly expanding to other sports. Transfer fees from players moving to bigger clubs provide some revenue, though it's inconsistent.

"The commitment is that we do want to turn it into something that is ultimately sustainable," Morrison said. For now, he continues investing because he sees the gap in New Zealand's sports infrastructure and believes someone needs to fill it.

When nearly half your national team comes from one academy, it's clear that investment is paying off for an entire country.