Fifa Women’s World Cup: Three Samoan women making waves in the football world

FIFA's inaugural chief women's football officer is NZ-born Kiwi-Samoan Sarai Bareman. Photo / Supplied

As the FIFA Women’s World Cup comes to a close, the connection of three Pasifika women to the tournament and the mark they have left have been highlighted.

The Samoan trio is made up of FIFA chief women’s football officer Sarai Bareman, Football Fern Malia Steinmetz and stadium announcer Arizona Leger.

Bareman, 42, grew up in West Auckland and is a former student of Massey High School. She is Dutch on her father’s side and on her mother’s side, she comes from the villages of Matatufu and Lotofaga in Samoa.

She is the first woman from any Pacific Island to hold the coveted position in FIFA and has had her fair share of challenges.

“I think the biggest challenge is as a female working in a male-dominated industry.

“As a woman, you often have to work twice as hard as men to prove your worth...In the end, I didn’t allow those challenges to deter me and instead used them as motivation.

“But it’s testing and can feel very lonely.”

Bareman believes the biggest thing Pacific nations need to do in order to grow football sustainably is to make sure there is good structure off the field too.

“The talent on the field in our region is undeniable, but what so often lets us down is poor governance structures,” she says.

Football Ferns midfielder Malia Steinmetz is proud of her Samoan heritage and wears a traditional tatau on one of her hands. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

Steinmetz also has Samoan heritage and is among the first players of Pacific origin to appear on the field at the World Cup tournament.

Steinmetz’s path to senior international football has not been an easy road.

She says the increased expectations and doubts about her place in the world as a Samoan-Kiwi made it difficult, but she now takes pride in being a role model.

Leger has several links to the Pacific and proudly calls herself a daughter of the Moana (Oceania).

She hails from the village of Nofoali’i in Samoa, Lautoka in Fiji and the island kingdom of Tonga. She is also Māori and has links to Te Rarawa and Whakatōhea.

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“One thing I know for sure is that I didn’t get here on my own. It truly does take a village.

“The line: ‘I’m a part of all that I’ve met’ would be the best testament to the village that has influenced my journey so far,” she says.

Part of that, Leger says, is due to the challenges she has had to face as an indigenous woman.

‘There aren’t enough of us in the arena’

“The key challenge is that there aren’t enough of us in the arena.”

Leger wants to increase the Pacific’s presence in sporting spaces in order to provide a viable career path for a large number of Oceanian women and girls.

“The responsibility is now to open the door and prepare the arena for our future generation to shine.”

Leger has some advice for other women wanting to enter the sporting industry.

“Never underestimate how important it is to believe in yourself and emphasise the importance of collaboration over competition.

“There is so much room for all of us to be great and shine.”