When your dad is a football coach and a lifelong Manchester United supporter, it’s probably inevitable that’s the sport you’ll play.

For Northern United’s Jayla Rodrigues, football has been a big part of her life for as long as she can remember. “There was no other option,” she says. The 19-year-old has played since she was young, and started coaching when she was in her mid-teens. 

Jayla’s coaching journey began when she was playing for Melville United, and was asked to help out during a Women and Girls Month initiative before the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023. 
“We had all these little kids, and I just loved how much fun they were and how much fun they had.”

At Northern, where her father coaches, she got involved in the Milo Fantails Programme, a New Zealand Football initiative for young girls new to football.  

Photo: Jayla coaching at Northern United

She has chosen to stay with the same group of girls as they’ve grown and she now works with girls 10-13 years old. She has enjoyed watching the girls become more aware and reflective as they get older. 

“They can see their progress,” she says. “When you tell them, ‘You’ve done that three times’, and they realise they’ve achieved it, that’s what I enjoy.”

In 2025, Jayla was named the WaiBOP McDonalds Coach of the Year. The recognition reflects years of commitment to the game, and a growing number of girls and their family who recognise the impact Jayla has had on them. 

One parent who nominated her in 2025 said: "Jayla helps each individual player and takes the time to pull some aside or spend longer after trainings to help players. Jayla stands apart because not only is she passionate about football but she is passionate about the girls that she coaches, she is invested in how they become great long term players at the club." 

Jayla says, from experience as a player and a coach, that there can be differences between coaching girls and boys. She says that often girls like to know the how and the why before they give it a go themselves.

“Girls are definitely more technical,” she says. “They want to know everything. They need to see it, understand it, ask questions.”

She explains that her sessions are built around explanation and demonstration. She spends a lot of time talking players through scenarios and answering questions – and doing demonstrations.
“Girls are often visual learners. If they don’t get it, you have to show them.”

Photo: Jayla travelled to Las Vegas in 2024 to play in the Mayors Cup

Jayla says that it helps that at Northern United they have built a shared football language. Concepts such as zoning are used consistently across all teams, drawing on ideas from senior coaches and the club’s director of football. That consistency in language can help players move through the age groups with shared understandings.

Jayla has completed Junior Level 1 and 2 qualifications and is working through her Junior Level 3 and her futsal C Licence. She also takes up online learning opportunities whenever she can.

She says she learns a lot from all of the courses she does. For her, some of the most valuable learnings have been about coaching structure.

“You learn how a training needs to flow. How to build it properly around the focus of the session. When you start out, you just think ‘we’ll do this and this’. But the courses I’ve done have given me a framework.”

Through programmes such as Wahine Toa she has connected with coaches from other clubs, sharing ideas and taking new activities back to her own team. The cross-club learning, she says, has been invaluable.

“It’s quite hard as a female coach. I don’t have many female mentors,” she says. “So it’s important to keep learning and put yourself in those environments.”

Asked what advice she would give to other coaches just starting out, Jayla keeps it simple.

Create an inviting space, encourage questions and allow creativity.

“Sometimes we try to keep football in a box,” she says. “Let them be creative. Let them try things. Make sure they know it’s okay to ask questions and make mistakes.”

Jayla believes that mindset is especially important in the 10 to 13 age group, where confidence can affect long-term involvement, or dropping out of the game.

Dahra, Matt (Manager),Jayla and Charlotte

Dahra Lenihan, 11, has had Jayla as a coach for the last two season. “I loved having Jayla as a coach, she is fun and always supports me even when I make a mistake or do something wrong” Dahra says “She helped me feel confident about myself”

Jayla wants to stay with her team as they grow older, and eventually create opportunities for them beyond the local game – including travel and tournament experiences. 
“It’s about giving them those life experiences,” she says.

Northern United Director of Football Che Bunce says Jayla’s growth as a coach reflects the work she puts in behind the scenes. "We are incredibly proud to have Jayla as part of our coaching team at Northern. She is one of our shining lights, a fastidious student of the game, and her rise and rise has been no accident. She is always down at Korikori either coaching or observing other coaches and players work." he says. 
 
"It’s been particularly pleasing seeing Jayla’s progression from a player (having coached her in the first female team to play in the Las Vegas Mayors Cup) to coaching juniors, and I believe it’s only a matter of time before we see her in the senior game and take her coaching to the next level."

Outside football, Jayla works full-time as a dental assistant, and is studying through her workplace. After a year out due to injury, she is also planning a return to playing for Northern this season.

It is a very full schedule, and football is part of almost every day, and still a big part of her family life, with Dad Albie the head coach for the Northern United’s 1st Team this year.

For Jayla, coaching is not just about helping girls see a future for themselves in football, it’s also about growing confidence off the pitch, and she enjoys seeing the friendships develop on and off the pitch.

For Girls and Women’s Month 2026, we are telling the story of some of the women and girls who make a difference to the game in our region.

Encouraging and developing more female coaches in the game is part of the strategic vision of New Zealand Football. It’s about allowing young girls to see pathways in football, and feel a sense of belonging.

Article added: Thursday 12 March 2026