Park Oval perfect venue for United

News that soccer is to return to Queen Elizabeth Park Oval in Masterton within the next month is a huge boost for the round ball code.
Even if it is just a temporary home for the Wairarapa United club until the current spell of hot weather allows for necessary repair work to be undertaken at the Pugh Sports Bowl.
Indications are that could take at least most of April to be completed which means at least two of Wairarapa United's Capital premier division games will be played there.
It will not, of course, be the first time that soccer has been seen on the park oval.
I well remember days gone by when matches in the central league men's competition were played there on a regular basis and names like Edwards, Wahrlich, Dornan, Winter and Wikohika just as regularly featured in the local sporting headlines.
And more latterly the Wairarapa United women's team have strutted their stuff at the Oval with players of the ilk of New Zealand reps Wendi Henderson, Nicki Smith and Michele Keinzley demonstrating their skills against some best club sides in the country.
What makes the park Oval so perfect for soccer is the evenness of the surface and it's visibility factor as far as the general public is concerned.
Surface-wise it would be without peer in the Wairarapa with conditions absolutely tailor-made for teams who base their game around swift and accurate movement of the ball. The "kick and hope" philosophy which often prevails on grounds where the bounce of the ball can't be trusted can therefore be eliminated from the tactical plan.
As one of the focal points of our beautiful Queen Elizabeth Park unhappily being made less beautiful these days by the so-called enhancement scheme in progress there the park Oval has a steady stream of people walking around it every weekend.
Many of these folk are sure to stop and watch the soccer and that can only be a positive for the game, can't it? As is the closeness spectators can get to the action there.
And there should be any amount of entertaining action to watch too.
Wairarapa United have made no secret of their desire to both win the premier division title and earn promotion to the central league in 2008 and the early signs are they have a squad which has every chance of doing exactly that.
A couple of internationals in Waisake Sabutu from Fiji and Soromon Seule from Vanuatu are their most recent acquisitions and their form in pre-season matches has been impressive enough to suggest they are going to make their presence felt big time, Sabutu with his ability to cover any number of positions and Seule with his penchant for scoring goals.
And the Pacific Island influence doesn't end with them as Wairarapa United also have three other Fijian internationals in Pita Rabo, Sakeo Valevou and Petero Dauniseka in their squad, all of whom have proved their value time and again over the past two or three seasons.
Wairarapa United is not only about their premier division side though. Remarkably they will be represented by no fewer than eight teams in Capital Soccer competitions this year with their determination to develop the sport in the Wairarapa being aptly illustrated by their age group sides stretching from age 10 to age 19.
That's a huge commitment by any standards and one which deserves strong community support.
Having their flagship side play on the park Oval is a good start in that respect.