Club launch excitement

NO SURPRISE: Miroslav Tvaroh, under-20's coach.

First impressions are important. That's why Heartland Wairarapa Football Club are determined to make their official launch at the Masterton Town Hall on Thursday something special.

The public function will be the culmination of about 16 months of planning and with around 300 people expected to attend they want to make every post a winner.

Scoring new Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick as guest speaker is undoubtedly a step in the right direction. The Scotsman, who moved to Australia as a 22-year-old and is now 60, hit the headlines in the coaching sphere when he guided Melbourne Victory to success in the A-League in 2005, only 12 months after they had finished seventh, ahead of only the hugely disappointing New Zealand Knights.

Victory met Adelaide United in the grand final and smashed them 6-0.

Merrick went on to take Victory to a second A-league title as well and was coaching the Hong Kong national side at the time he was chosen to replace Riki Herbert in the hot seat at the Phoenix.

Another highlight of Thursday's function will be an auction, proceeds from which will go towards the funding of a Heartland Wairarapa under-20 team in the 2014 ASB Youth League.

Amongst several notable items to go under the hammer there will be three shirts, one signed by the 2010 All Whites World Cup squad, another by last year's Phoenix team and a third by members of the Wairarapa United side which captured the Chatham Cup in 2011. Also up for grabs during the evening will be the first Heartland Wairarapa playing jersey.

The recent appointment of Miroslav Tvaroh as Heartland Wairarapa under-20s coach came as no surprise. Tvaroh, still a regular member of the Wairarapa Central League squad and part of the Chatham Cup-winning combination, coached Wairarapa United seconds to success in the Capital third division competition this year.

A number of youngsters who were part of that side will be contending for places in the Heartland side next year. Team manager will be Andrew Kerr and current Wairarapa Central League coach Phil Keinzley will have a mentoring role in his position of director of football.

Keinzley sees the Heartland under-20s being representative of the whole Capital Football region, which takes in the greater Wellington area, and because a good percentage of the players are likely to be resident in Wellington there is the possibility of training sessions being split between there and the Wairarapa. Plans are for all home games to be played in Masterton with the likely venue being Memorial Park.

Heartland Wairarapa board chairman Bob Francis is confident the organisation will achieve their ambition of fielding a side in the ASB Premiership and says a successful campaign by the under-20s will set the ideal platform for that to happen in a relatively short space of time.

Tickets for the launch are $30. It will run from 6.30pm to 8.30pm and are available from any Keinzley Agvet shops.