This is the busiest time of the football season and is made all the more interesting with the Fifa World Cup taking place in Brazil.
It's a shame our country is not represented at world sport's largest event, as we were four years ago in South Africa, but I think the amazing pictures and gripping sport will be motivating our young footballers for a tilt at qualifying for Russia in 2018.
Who knows, there may be players in our region who will be part of that campaign. We've seen Chris Wood, Marco Rojas, Ryan Thomas and Tyler Boyd graduate to the senior ranks and they all started out in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
We may even see some of these new heroes on our football fields next year when New Zealand hosts the Fifa Under-20 World Cup.
WaiBOP Football is heavily involved with the Fifa Under-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 organisation, delivering events like the trophy tour, mobile futsal courts and fan activation zones in the lead-up to 2015. During May, the Fifa Under-20 World Cup trophy visited a number of towns and locations across our region which was a great opportunity to engage football fans.
