RILEY Ali

General
REPRESENTING NEW ZEALAND
Despite being born and raised in the United States of America, her father is from New Zealand and she chose to represent New Zealand at international level. "My dad is from Christchurch [New Zealand] and moved to America in his late 20s. I have never lived in New Zealand but have had citizenship since I was a baby. When I was in high school, we found out about the U20 New Zealand team preparing for the 2007 World Cup in Russia so I sent in a highlights tape and got to go try out for the team. Living in LA [United States of America] for the first 25 years of my life, I'm definitely an American but since playing with the Ferns and getting to know about New Zealand and its culture, I'm also a die-hard Kiwi." (nzherald.co.nz, 14 May 2016)

EXPOSURE OF WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
In 2018 she spoke about the increasing exposure of women's football. "The biggest change is probably the media coverage of women's football. That affects everything because when people can see women playing I think they are impressed with us. They appreciate the game more, they have respect for what we do, and that encourages funding, sponsors, fans, and people to want to come see a game live. Little girls can have female role models and more little girls can play, which increases the competition in the game, which increases the level and then makes the game grow globally, which is what we are seeing happening. I think the media coverage has a lot to do with that." (goal-click.com, 01 Sep 2018)

SACRIFICES
She says the biggest sacrifice she has made in her football career was moving away from her friends and family, first from California to New York, NY, United States of America, and then to Europe. "When I played in the WPS [Women's Professional Soccer], I was drafted to a team in northern California, so it was close to my friends at Stanford. I was able to stay in school, and it wasn't very far from my family. When that team folded I had to head over to New York. That was pretty far from everyone from home. When the league folded I headed over to Europe. So I left my friends and family behind, I was in a relationship at the time, giving that up to follow my dream of playing football and playing professionally." (click.com, 01 Sep 2018)

2023 WORLD CUP
She hopes the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will help to inspire the next generation of players from New Zealand. "It's definitely a big difference from when I grew up in the US in Los Angeles. The 1999 World Cup victory was a huge moment for women's soccer in the United States. We've been disappointed with our results in the past World Cups and just touching on the change and the transformation we've gone through in the past couple of years, I think this is going to be the most motivating thing. We're so proud to be from a country with such a history of working for gender equality and with a female prime minister [Jacinda Ardern], and these things that we fight for, building the women's game, developing women's sport and inspiring young girls. Those are all huge messages that are integral parts of the Football Ferns [New Zealand women's national team]." (stuff.co.nz, 27 Jun 2020)

OTHER STUDIES
In 2016 she gained a certification in foods, nutrition and wellness studies from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York, NY, United States of America. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Feb 2020)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
In 2018 she launched the 'Girls With Balls' podcast. "This is a podcast about brave women. Women who dare to follow their dreams, both on the field and off. This is a forum for sharing stories, comparing battle scars, and celebrating achievements." She also has a clothing range, the 'Ali Riley Collection', which is marketed by the Malmo Clothing Co in Sweden. The theme of the collection is inclusivity and LGBTQ+ pride, and 10% of the sales revenue goes to LGBTQ+ charities in Malmo, Sweden. (LinkedIn profile, 01 Feb