Page 5 - NUAFC EBook

What Makes Us Unique?

• With the aid of the former Ngaruawahia Borough Council and latterly
the Waikato District Council we have developed what we consider
the best footballing surface in the Waikato.
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• Our October 50 Jubilee commemorated a wide range of people and
events that have enhanced the township of Ngaruawahia. We have
supported and hosted players on Centennial Park from a variety of
cities, countries and nationalities.
• To that end we have hosted, for several years, representative teams
from Christchurch, Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland when they
came to play Waikato in the Summer League.
• Ngaruawahia has been involved in the preparation of international
teams qualifying for the 2015 U-20 world cup and our club has had
full games against the Solomon Islands and Samoa. During the World
Cup being hosted in NZ Centennial Park was the chosen practice
venue for the Panama team, approved by FIFA, the International
Football Association.
• Players from 11 different countries have come at their own expense
over the years to experience football and our local culture, taking
home with them a love of our country’s culture and a desire to
maintain contact with us and possibly revisit. These players, each of
high footballing skill, came from Chile, Argentina, Somalia, England,
Scotland, Spain, India, Papua New Guinea, The Solomon Islands, Italy
and South Africa.
• One of our coaches, Dave Edmondson, went on to become the
Australian Womens National Coach.
• We have provided football for more than 2,300 players since 1968
with a number going on to represent Waikato, Auckland,
Christchurch and New Zealand. One such player, Seamus Marten,
represented New Zealand as a media officer for the 2006 World Cup
in Germany.
• 1998 was the year that Ngaruawahia appeared almost daily in the
national newspapers as our club progressed to the semi-finals of the
nation-wide Chatham Cup in Dunedin. One extensive article
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appeared as a two-page spread on August 2 in the Sunday News
entitled “There’s only one Ngaruawahia”.
• In 1999, out of all sports codes across the Waikato, Ngaruawahia
United received both the Service to Sport and the Team of the Year
awards. The Team of the Year award was again awarded to us in
2006.
• Our web site of over 2,200 pages and 74,000 match photos, has
followers scattered across the globe, and those following of our
Facebook page are able to keep up with local events.
• This history, and much more, is contained in our 578-page hard-copy
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50 Anniversary Book.
• This e-Book provides the reader with access to all of our photos,
videos and media reports through links.

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