Football fever hits Taupō

Football fever hits Taupō with two national tournaments and NZ Olympic Trial match and training camp.

With only weeks until Rugby World Cup 2011 kicks off, Taupō district has been inundated with football fever of a different kind. For over two weeks, Taupō’s Crown Park will play host to two junior New Zealand football tournaments and a training camp for the New Zealand Football Under 23 squad with the New Zealand Olympic Trial match next Saturday (3 September).

The two weeks of football started on Monday this week (22 August) with the New Zealand Women’s Secondary Schools Football Tournament, which goes until Friday (26 August) and involves more than 650 of the country’s best female football players.

The tournament is followed closely by a week-long training camp for the New Zealand Football Under-23 squad, starting on 29 August, with five coaches running the rule over players during the week and All Whites head coach Ricki Herbert making an appearance.

The training camp culminates with the New Zealand Football Olympic trial match on Saturday 3 September at 2pm where the Olympic football dreams of 32 New Zealand-based players will begin or end. Players will be chasing spots in an 18-man squad to compete in a two-week long Oceania qualification tournament in Fiji provisionally scheduled for March 2012.

New Zealand Football Chief Executive, Grant McKavanagh, says the week-long camp is a vital step towards London 2012. “We have a potentially strong group for London when you look at our young overseas pros and collegiate players with three senior All Whites added to that mix,” McKavanagh said, “but we have to qualify first and the size of that task should not be underestimated.”

“We want to extend our thanks to the Taupō District Council for their efforts in making this camp a reality.”

On the same weekend as the Olympic Trial match is the New Zealand Junior Football Club Cup (NZJFC), involving more than 750 football players aged between 10 and 14 years old. The NZJFC Cup is designed to give NZ junior and youth football teams the chance to play in similar professionally run tournaments as in Europe and the world over here in New Zealand. Last year, the NZJFC Cup attracted teams from not only the North and South Islands but also Australia. Global Games Director Tyrone Campbell says they want to set the right example off and on the field. “Enjoyment and sportsmanship are a huge focus and a ‘play hard but fair’ policy is in place, along with a code of conduct for supporters and players alike.”

District Events Manager Nick Reader is excited about the amount of high level football Taupō has been able to secure recently. “We’re just thrilled to be the base for the New Zealand Olympic selection trials, and host both a week long training camp and two of New Zealand’s premier junior football tournaments all in the same month. It’s a very exciting time for football fans in Taupō, and I hope our young people will be inspired and come along and watch our nations very best young football players fight for a chance to represent their country at the Olympics.”

Mr Reader says the combined events could also bring more than 2000 players, staff and supporters into the district for the two week period. “We are actively trying to secure longer-term events like these for the district, so it’s fantastic to have these events back to back just before RWC 2011.”