Twenty years ago, Football Fern goalkeeper Jenny Bindon would bring her baby boy along to trainings – struggling to balance being a new mum and her football career.
She’d returned to the goalmouth just three months after having him by caesarean section. Unable to find anyone to look after her baby, she would take him along to training in the evenings and tuck him safely behind the goal.
“Then my husband would get off work and come and pick him up,” says Bindon.
Last month, she was able to watch from the stands as that baby, now 21, made his FIFA World Cup debut, in the second half of the All Whites’ 2-2 draw with Iran in Los Angeles.
Bindon and son Tyler made history as the first mother-son duo to both have played at FIFA World Cups – Jenny for the Football Ferns in both 2007 and 2011, and Tyler for the All Whites in 2026.
“When it happened and FIFA confirmed it, it was a really cool full-circle moment for us,” Jenny says, who travelled to the US and Canada with husband, Grant, to support Tyler.
“That wasn’t an intention for us to set a record, it’s not what it was about. It was more about Tyler competing on the world stage and getting the opportunity to represent New Zealand at the pinnacle event in the world when it comes to a sporting event, so it’s pretty awesome.”
Born and raised in the US, Jenny moved to New Zealand after marrying Grant Bindon, a former captain of the New Zealand volleyball team. They met at Lewis University in Illinois, where they were both NCAA athletes; she played both soccer and basketball there. She had also worked in the US Coast Guard before coming to New Zealand.
Bindon made her Football Ferns debut in 2004, shortly before having Tyler, who was born in January 2005. She was back playing less than four months later.
After an international career spanning a decade, two Olympics, and 77 appearances for New Zealand, she chose to retire from the Ferns in 2014, struggling to recover from a concussion and balancing family life.
“It was compounded by injury, age and Tyler being in school. It was harder, and I just needed to support my family more,” she explains.
“I think that’s how sport works – sometimes it decides for you, so mine was kind of chosen for me. It was too hard after my head knock just to get back into the way I used to play.”
Bindon jokes that every time she tries to leave the sport, she gets drawn back in. She started coaching while she was still playing.
“I love the game so much… I just want to create opportunities for others that were better than what I had, and I think that kind of sums up why I stay involved in football,” she says.
Bindon is now an assistant coach for the Football Ferns, having worked with the team for many years after her retirement. She’s also held coaching roles offshore, with UCLA, Reading, Arsenal Academy and the London City Lionesses.
The Bindons are currently based in the UK, where Tyler has played football for the last four seasons. But a unique experience will draw her back to Aotearoa next month.
One of the strongest clubs in women’s football, Chelsea FC, are heading to Auckland for a one-off match against an Auckland FC Women’s Invitational XI at Eden Park on August 8.
While Auckland FC are yet to have a team in the A-League Women – scheduled for a debut in the 2027/28 season – they’re hoping to bring together local talent for the opportunity to experience top-level football at Eden Park.
Bindon was approached by Auckland FC through her footballing connections and was excited to step up for the one-off game.
“I’m doing this game just to put our best foot forward, and I want to promote New Zealand women playing the game. Hopefully we can compete and get a goal, if not win,” she says.
Some football fans queried why the existing Wellington Phoenix women’s side weren’t chosen for the match, particularly after their historic 2025/26 A-League season where they made the grand final.
“It’s not competing with Wellington, it’s bringing women’s football in New Zealand, and lifting it all up together,” Bindon explains.
“It’s about experience, we want to have experienced players with young players coming through, and having those types of opportunities is going to help continue to grow the game, it’s really exciting for everyone who will be involved.”
When Bindon returned to the Football Ferns after giving birth, she struggled to balance both roles.
Tyler grew up around the Ferns, with many of the players helping out with babysitting duties or keeping him entertained on the sidelines when he was younger. But now he’s played on one of the world’s biggest sporting stages.
“A lot of the Ferns have reached out to say how cool it is to see Tyler out there playing when he grew up watching them play and kicking a ball around with them. I think it’s been kind of a full circle moment for a lot of them,” Bindon says.
The female role models for Tyler didn’t stop there, with various coaches working with Jenny at UCLA influencing his teenage years.
“To have the likes of Cori Close, Amanda Cromwell, Kelly Inouye-Perez be involved in Tyler’s life, these are powerful women who are competing and winning at the highest level within their own fields,” Bindon says. “And I think that’s been a huge factor in who Tyler is today.”
Bindon believes mums in football have more support in New Zealand now, and there is more encouraging players to return after having babies.
“It is exciting that we’re creating better environments for women to succeed and we need to continue to keep doing that. It’s not where it needs to be, but we’re getting further along in where we are,” she says.
“I always say it’s not a light switch, right; we’re not gonna make it all happen all at once. It’s really important that we get our infrastructure right and we continue to keep developing coaches, players, get the ex-players to be involved and always giving back.
“There’s a lot of giving back, and I think that’s really admirable in how we [former Ferns] all want to make football continue to grow, not only in New Zealand, but globally.”
When Jenny watches Tyler play, the ex-player and coach voices in her head quieten, as there’s only one role important to her in those moments.
“I try to be as much of a mum to Tyler as I can in these situations – he’s got enough pressure from coaches and other people around him,” she says.
“There can only be one Tyler Bindon mom, and that happens to be me, so I try to take that role as best I can.”
