Award-winning documentary tells story of first Ferns skipper

posted in: Football Ferns, Heritage, News

Born in 1947, Barbara Cox grew up learning that a woman’s role was to cook and clean and take care of her husband.

So when her husband, Roy, signed her up to a local football team in 1973, Cox’s life changed.

With help from a few male administrators, and little help from anyone else, Cox and her teammates worked to a top five world ranking, beating the US on the way.

Cox represented New Zealand for more than a decade, and became the first woman to receive the top New Zealand football coaching certificate. She was also the first captain of a New Zealand national women’s team.

In 2020, The Spinoff series Scratched featured Cox’s story in the documentary that helped win the series its Best Sports Programme of the Year at the New Zealand Television Awards.

Here’s the story …

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