As New Zealand celebrated Waitangi Day on Friday 6 February Waipa District Council held its annual community day – a chance for local community groups to chip in and add something to entertain the crowds at Lake Karapiro.
For Cambridge Football Club committee member Josh Easby that community day spelt out opportunity.
“We wanted to do something different. We know there is an international standard beach volleyball pitch there and the suggestion was that we use it for football,” Easby explains.
Easby got in contact with OFC Futsal and Beach Soccer Development Officer Paul Toohey and, with New Zealand Football approval, Toohey headed down to give the locals an introduction to lake-side beach soccer.
After running through a few basic drills and giving an overview of the laws of the game, Toohey let the locals loose on the sand and was encouraged by what he saw.
“It was tough at first but you could clearly see towards the middle and latter stages of the games that the players were adapting well,” he says.
“One of the features of beach soccer is the aerial side of the game which of course is the most difficult aspect to master. It was encouraging to see players trying to flick the ball up off the sand and even attempt a few bicycle kicks. In particular a few of the kids that I worked with in the grassroots session in the morning mastered the flick very quickly.”
Easby says he was incredibly pleased with the success of the exhibition matches which saw Te Awamutu take on Cambridge in both men’s and women’s matches.
“I think it went superbly,” Easby enthuses.
“For the majority of us it was our first experience of beach soccer. It was a great day, it took a while to get the hang of it as a lot of people started off playing like they were on grass but everyone seemed to have picked it up by the end.”
Easby says as well as providing a short but sweet introduction to the local community, the beach soccer exhibition was also an opportunity to present Lake Karapiro as a potential venue for the burgeoning form of football.
“For now it was a one-off event but the good thing about it was we were able to let OFC, in particular, know that there is a world class venue for beach soccer that they may not have been aware of.”
A factor that certainly piqued Toohey’s interest.
“Without doubt Lake Karapiro is a world class venue that could host international beach soccer,” he says.
“Not only because of the quality and size of the sand pitch but also the surrounding facilities from top notch accommodation to the high performance facilities in the immediate vicinity.
“It was an excellent day, something to build on, and a pleasure for me to help with beach soccer in my own country. When I travel the Pacific or see how big the game is around the world, it’s also great to see how well it can work in your own environment.
“My impression is that everybody loved it and is hungry for more.”

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