Maia Vink was there when the Canterbury United Pride dynasty began with back-to-back national women’s football league titles in 2013 and 2014 – first as a player, then as a member of the coaching staff.
The Pride haven’t missed a final since, winning again in 2016, then in 2018 and 2019, and they are the favourites to make it three triumphs in a row and six in eight years when they host the ISPS Handa Women’s Premiership final at English Park in Christchurch on Sunday (kickoff 1pm).
But as they try to extend their golden run, it is Vink that is tasked with stopping them, in her role as coach of their opponents, Capital.
She took charge in Wellington this year after serving as an assistant last year, having spent four years before that working in the Netherlands and Canada, gaining valuable coaching experience while keeping tabs on how her former team and her friends in the squad and on the staff were going.
“I’ve obviously got quite a good relationship with some of those girls,” Vink said this week.
