FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™: Tauranga Selected As Team Base Camp For Netherlands

Tauranga will be a ‘home away from home’ for the Netherlands team while they compete in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™ (FWWC2023), kicking off next July.

Bay Oval will host the team for their training, while the team will reside at Trinity Wharf Tauranga hotel in the city centre.

Nicknamed the Oranjeleeuwin (Orange Lionesses), the Netherlands are currently ranked number six in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings and were finalists in the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 in France.

Team representatives visited Tauranga in October when they were in New Zealand for the tournament draw. After visiting several potential training camp options, they selected Tauranga as their preferred Team Base Camp.

Nelita Byrne, Venues and Events Manager at Tauranga City Council says it’s a great honour for Tauranga to be selected as base camp by such a high-ranking team.

“We are thrilled, we can’t wait for the team to experience the manaakitanga our city is becoming renowned for,” Nelita says.

“The selection recognises Bay Oval as a premier sports facility and is a testament to how wonderful our city is. We stood out to one of the world’s best football teams as the place to be.

“We look forward to embracing the Orange Lionesses alongside our community and supporting them in their World Cup campaign.”

A total of 15 Team Base Camps have been confirmed in Aotearoa. Most of the camps are spread across four host cities where the FWWC2023 games will be played, and the remainder are confirmed for Tauranga, Christchurch, and Palmerston North.

FWWC2023 Aotearoa New Zealand Chief Operating Officer Jane Patterson said the inclusion of the three regional centres meant the tournament could now be shared with even more New Zealanders.

“We are delighted that the tournament’s footprint will be spread even further across Aotearoa with the inclusion of three additional cities – giving more Kiwis the chance to engage with the world’s biggest women’s sporting event,” she says.

Team Base Camps are a first for a FIFA Women’s World Cup, and are designed to offer teams a place to train, rest and recover.

With the team staying at Trinity Wharf in the city centre, and training at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, they’ll be able to enjoy a variety of what Tauranga has on offer.

“We can’t wait to welcome the Netherlands team to unwind at Trinity Wharf between training sessions," says Alexandra MacGibbon, CEO at Trinity Wharf Tauranga.

“We are very proud of our staff who have worked hard to ensure we can host a team here in Tauranga,” she says.

To meet FIFA Team Base Camp Training Site standards, the Bay Oval pitch will undergo a renovation following the end of the cricket season.

The upgrades will be supported by the Government as part of a $19 million investment towards upgrades at sporting facilities across the country for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Full details of the confirmed Team Base Camp Training Sites and Accommodation in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand can be found here.

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