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The Sun
Friday August 17, 2018
Tickets still available for All Blacks There is just under four weeks until the All Blacks make their Nelson debut at Trafalgar Park and there are still more than 2000 tickets left. Tasman Rugby’s Tony Lewis and Les Edwards say the ground has been expanded
to give the stadium more than 20,000 people, which will make it the largest ever event at the ground. To be a part of it, get your tickets at AllBlacks.com, Beggs Music Works or the i-Site Visitor Information Centre. Photo: Charles Anderson.
Young footballers head abroad by Peter Jones, Sport Tasman Two of the province’s most talented young footballers are taking their skills abroad. Eighteen-year-olds Harrison Pine and Alex Duley have accepted two-year partial football scholarships to North American colleges. Harrison is heading for Southeastern Community College in Burlington, Iowa, while Alex will play and study at West Virginia University Potomac State College. It should come as no surprise that the two young Marlburians are following the same career path. They have been friends since age three, best mates through kindergarten, primary school, intermediate and Marlborough Boys’ College days. Over the past season they have both been integral parts of the successful Rangers AFC side which enjoyed a record Chatham Cup run, then took out the Nelson division one league with three games to play.
Now they are looking forward to taking their football to a new level, while studying for future endeavours. Harrison is doing a sports marketing associate degree in America, while Alex is concentrating on aero engineering. Their path to the USA began with a Football NZ newsletter inviting interested parties to an open trial in Christchurch. One hundred and eighty trialists were reduced to 40, who were interviewed for the Aussie-based NSR scholarship programme. After that the two Marlborough lads were asked to film their local games, send them to NSR who edited them into a highlights video and sent them to various US colleges. Alex received two offers, Harrison three, from which they made a decision based on the standard of competition expected and playing opportunities. The coach at Iowa is a young
Australian who has recently been through the NSR scheme, another factor that attracted Harrison. The excitement levels have grown since their scholarships have been confirmed and both admit they “can’t wait to get on the plane”. They anticipate a high level of competition, perhaps even opening doors to semi-professional or Major League Soccer opportunities. Their colleges play against other sides from within the state, with their sights set on qualifying for the nationals later in the season, offering a, albeit slight, chance that the two mates may square off against each other, a possible match-up both felt “would be fun”. Although they leave these shores fit and healthy after a solid diet of football over the past few months, the colleges will run another fitness test on the duo when they arrive. “If we don’t pass, we don’t get to play,” Alex says.
Alex Duley, left, and Harrison Pine are set to further their football and higher education in the United States. Photo: Peter Jones