Whangarei's Indian community has achieved another milestone, forming a soccer club to compete in the local league. In 2005, five soccer enthusiasts from Fiji began training with a view to forming a fully-fledged club in years to come. That idea came to fruition late last year when FC Pasifica approached FC Whangareito join the local league. FC Pasifica now has 40 members comprising players and officials from Fiji, South Africa and Thailand. It prides itself in being the first soccer team in Northland with bulk of players from Fiji, where soccer is the second major sport behind rugby. Founding members Mahesh Prasad and Kamlesh Mani said they were indebted to FC Whangarei for giving them an opportunity to compete with other teams and for providing facilities at Morningside School. "We are happy that the local community has accepted us. Although it took us some time to reach this far, this break was important for us to forge ahead," Mr Prasad said. He said the club was also
looking at forming a women's team but was hampered by lack of finance. Mr Mani, who runs whiteware appliance firm Electrotrade, is supporting the team and has called on businesses and individuals to help the club. He said the team had been training on Thursdays and Sundays, with friendly games on Saturdays. The team will officially start their games in the second division on April 10. "Every week we used to train with only few people at Kensington Park, using netball lights because we had to prove ourselves in order to make it into the local league," Mr Mani said. "We can only build on from here and one of the things we're looking at, apart from sponsors, is getting other immigrant communities into the team."
