“Completely floored” by her latest honour, Dame Sarai Bareman says she’s an example that anything is possible.
Born to a Samoan mother and Dutch father in west Auckland, the girl who started playing football at Massey High has become one of the most influential women in world sport. And today she becomes a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
The head of women’s football at FIFA, Bareman is one of six Kiwis who were involved in this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand who’ve received honours in the New Year Honours List. Football Ferns co-captains at the World Cup, Ali Riley and Ria Percival, are among them.
“I never considered myself to be anything extraordinary or outside the box growing up,” Bareman says. “It just shows that it doesn’t matter where you grew up or what your economic situation is – anything is possible.
“I never dreamed I would one day be in FIFA, running women’s football globally. This wasn’t even on my bucket list; I didn’t even know it existed. So to be in this position and receive a recognition of this level, it’s just so humbling.”
Bareman, who played international football for Samoa before running the island nation’s football federation, hopes the honour allows her to broaden the impact she can make through the game.
“I feel very privileged to be representing New Zealand on the global stage. It’s something I carry with me in everything I do, and this [damehood] adds another level to that. I’m hopeful it will also open new doors and allow me to have conversations with new people and maybe expand the sphere of influence I can have in this role in a positive way,” she says.
“I’m also very proud to be a daughter of the Pacific and a Samoan woman. Having lived in Europe for so long and travelled the world, there’s something very special about being Samoan. What I bring to the table as a Pacific woman is invaluable and we have so much to offer – it’s important we don’t limit ourselves with our beliefs.”
Now living in Switzerland with her partner and their 18-month-old son, Matthijs, Bareman says she immediately called her mum back in Auckland when she received the official government letter.
“We prayed and we cried. She keeps me very grounded,” she says. “I’m really grateful also to God for allowing me to be in this role to make such an impact globally.”
After working for the Oceania Football Confederation in Auckland, Bareman became the only female on FIFA’s reform committee in 2015, where she advocated for an increase in women in leadership and prioritising women’s football. She then become FIFA’s first chief women’s football officer, where her aim has been to develop the women’s game across 211 countries.
When we spoke, Bareman was in Saudi Arabia, where FIFA has helped the women’s game take huge strides in the past two years. “My perceptions around this country have completely changed. They are all so passionate about the sport and what it can do for women here. All the hard work is coming to fruition, especially in a country like this,” she says.
This is the first year Bareman didn’t return home for Christmas. But her memories of the World Cup in New Zealand back in July are still vivid.
“It was incredible to be able to bring a World Cup home to New Zealand. The impact that it’s had on so many people – I’m still hearing stories daily – not only in New Zealand and Australia, but around the world,” she says. “The positive flow-on effects of it are huge within our ecosystem, and I think across all women’s sport. Yeah, it’s been a very special year. And this honour is just the icing on the cake.”
Although she wants to return to her roots one day, Bareman believes she’s in the best place right now to make a difference for women and girls.
“I’m uniquely positioned where I can have an impact at a global level through this sport – especially with the platform FIFA provides for me to influence the lives of women and girls through football. New Zealand is always home for me and I do see myself returning there at some point in the future. But there’s lots to do out here and with FIFA at the moment.”
Eight other women received honours in the 2024 New Year’s Honours List:
Dr Johanna Wood, Companion of the NZ Order of Merit
A Manawatu dairy farmer and former teacher, Johanna Wood, has risen through the ranks of football governance in the past 14 years – from the chair of Central Football, to the first female president of New Zealand Football, and a member of the global FIFA Council.
In her first year of leadership at NZ Football, the board achieved 40 percent female representation for the first time. Wood was appointed as the Oceania representative to the FIFA Council in 2019 and is now in her second term. She is a past winner of the Sport New Zealand Leadership award.
Having led the successful bidding for New Zealand to host the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023, Wood was also the inaugural chair of FIFA’s first World Cup legacy committee, to ensure a lasting legacy for the tournament across New Zealand.
Theodora Götz, Officer of the NZ Order of Merit
Theodora ‘Dido’ Götz was one of the first three New Zealand gymnasts to compete at an Olympics – at the 1964 Tokyo Games. But her involvement in the sport she loves now spans over 70 years.
When LockerRoom spoke to Götz in 2021, she could still do the splits at 75.
Since first competing at a world champs in 1962, the woman known in gymnastics around the world as Dido, has coached New Zealand at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and still coaches and judges at Tri Star Gymnastics in Auckland and leads the Auckland schools competition. In 2006, she achieved Brevet Judge status – the highest judging qualification in world gymnastics.
Elizabeth Matthews, Officer of the NZ Order of Merit
In a city known better for its sea than its ice, Elizabeth Matthews’ contribution to the sport of curling in Auckland – and New Zealand – has spanned many decades. As a player, she’s represented her country at 17 world championships and coached national teams and umpired at numerous international competitions.
Matthews has toiled to grow the sport in schools and for wheelchair players. She helped found the Auckland Curling Club and is the first woman president of the NZ Curling Association.
Jane Patterson, Officer of the NZ Order of Merit
The woman who led the successful New Zealand leg of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Jane Patterson was one of the ‘Big Four’ – four wāhine who ran major global sporting events in New Zealand in the past two years.
Patterson, whose long resume in running events covers a plethora of sports, returned to New Zealand in 2020 after working as a major events consultant in the UK. She was first project director for NZ Football before being appointed to the COO (NZ) role for FIFA.
This is Patterson’s second New Year’s Honours gong, after being made an MNZM in 2016 following 17 years as race director of Ironman NZ.
Ria Percival, Member of the NZ Order of Merit
The most capped New Zealand women’s footballer of all time – with 166 caps – Ria Percival has achieved numerous firsts in her career.
She was the first Kiwi to play in an FA Cup final in 2019 with West Ham United and she made history co-captaining the Football Ferns (with Ali Riley) to their first World Cup victory in the opening game of this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup at Eden Park.
Percival, now living in the UK and playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the Super League, has played professionally in the US, Canada, Germany and England. And she’s made her mark at five World Cups and four Olympic Games since her Ferns debut in 2006.
Ali Riley, Member of the NZ Order of Merit
A veteran of five World Cups and four Olympic Games, the captain of the Football Ferns Ali Riley is only the second player to earn 150 caps for New Zealand.
American-born Riley first played for NZ in the 2006 FIFA U20 World Cup, making her Football Ferns debut the following year against Australia. Like Percival, she lays claim to leading the Ferns to their first World Cup victory in Auckland back in July.
But there are other strings to her bow – central in efforts securing improved conditions and prize money for the most recent tournament. She’s on the board of the NZ Professional Footballers’ Association.
Captain of Angel City FC in the US women’s soccer league, she also published a cookbook, Girls Gone Veg, this year.
Joyce Talbot, Member of the NZ Order of Merit
The woman behind the efficient and successful running of the Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta for almost 20 years, Joyce Talbot has always been about growing sailing for both youth and adults, and preserving some of New Zealand’s original wooden yachts.
In an involvement spanning over three decades, Talbot has held leading roles with the New Zealand Classic Yacht Association, the Coastal Classic race organisation and the Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta executive. She’s renowned for co-ordinating officials equipment and other resources, and she’s also secretary and treasurer of the NZ Sailing Foundation, helping fund amateur sailors to compete offshore.
Ngahiwi Meroiti, the Queen’s Service Medal
For more than 30 years, Ngahiwi Meroiti has been a vital part of the Kapi Mana Netball Centre, for growing netball in Porirua. She’s coached hundreds of netballers of all ages and stages, from school level through to assistant coach of the Capital Shakers.
President of Kapi Mana Netball between 2012 and 2016, Meroiti is also a qualified umpire, instrumental in revitalising the umpiring cohort. She’s also been involved in Māori netball for more than 15 years.
