Rovers v Wairarapa
Park Island, Napier
It's enough to make a fair share of the Bluewater Stadium faithful cringe tomorrow unless Andy Bevin quickly adapts with his laughing gear.
The frequent utterance of the word "soccer" in his repertoire, that is, which goes against the grain of labelling the beautiful game "football".
"It's saaa-kaar," explains Bevin in an exaggerated American accent soon after returning this week from the West Virginia University where he's just completed his second year of business studies on a soccer-playing scholarship.
While that may require some thought and adjustment, suffice it to say the man who turned 21 on Thursday won't need to make any such modifications once he runs on to his old hunting ground at Park Island, Napier, for the Bluewater Napier City Rovers' match against Wairarapa United tomorrow in a 2pm kick-off.
Despite finding himself in a defensive midfield role for his varsity team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the former Kinetic Electrical Hawke's Bay player should assume the mantle of striker tomorrow with aplomb for the defending champions in the region's premier winter league competition.
"I wasn't entirely happy with my performance in the midfield. I prefer to be up front," he says of the university campaign between August to December that failed to rise to any memorable heights.
West Virginia played 20 games in the NCAA against as many teams before playing crossover matches against other sister leagues in the United States in a bid to make the cut of 32 for a national championship berth.
"We missed out on that cut so that's why we didn't consider ourselves successful."
Having returned from his first year in the US, Bevin switched allegiance to Waitakere United rather than return to the Bay United stable, considering Neil Emblen was the then O-league team coach as well as the coach/selector for the New Zealand Under-23 squad on the cusp of competing at the London Olympics.
His dreams of representing his country at the Games nosedived when he became surplus to requirements in Emblen's equation.
Instead, the former National under-20 representative to Colombia in 2011 jetted off to Sydney where he played for the APIA Leichardt, an Italian club footing it in the NSW premier league, for two-thirds of the winter season before going to West Virginia.
"That's the best I've played in my career [March to August]," he says after Leichardt finished third from bottom. In hindsight, Bevin feels he didn't make the right choice to go to Waitakere United.
"I didn't actually fit in. I wasn't myself so I needed a change of scenery [to Leichardt].
"I'm not going to say it was terrible because I learned a bit and needed to adjust, but I didn't at Waitakere."
All that's water under the Auckland Harbour Bridge now, as far as Bevin is concerned.
"I love coming back home for an extended period of time and the best part is I get to play for the Rovers again," says the player who will be here until August and who is likely to pair up front with speedy youngster Fane Morgan in the strikers' zone.
He has heard about Morgan's prowess and hopes the pair will build a lethal rapport for the Blues who are perched on the fourth rung of the Central League table after a sluggish start to the season with two wins and a draw from five outings on seven points, four adrift of Western Suburbs in third spot.
Former Chatham Cup winners Wairarapa are two rungs below with just one win and two draws but the teams traditionally have passion-fuelled games.
The youngest child in his family is relishing time with his parents, Theresa and Sean Bevin, of Napier, and is mindful his grown-up siblings are dispersed so any time together is golden.
Brother Jay, 26, is a pilot in Tonga, sister Katie, 24, is a graphic artist in Sydney and another sister, Sarah, 23, teaches in Wellington.
Bevin finished his off-season training with West Virginia three weeks ago, which included conditioning and playing friendlies.
"I'm pretty fit and stronger than what I used to be," he says, ruling out any suggestions of tripping in the Land of Big Size Me meals.
"I've stayed away from the big size slabs and fries. I cook for myself," he says, partial to pasta and meat.
Incidentally, don't mistake that for someone who has beefed up at the expense of losing his pace.
"I'm not any slower than what I used to be."
What sticks out for him in the States is the level of professionalism where they train five days and can play one or two games at the weekends while attending business classes fulltime.
"It's a good opportunity because it's never easy for a New Zealander to become a professional."
His desire to eke out a professional soccer career as his No1 priority hasn't waned the slightest.
It helps that his American college has become a stepping stone to catch the eye of talent scouts for that big breakthrough into the Major Soccer League.
It's a four-year cycle and he suspects his name has graced the lips of a few who should be in the know.
"Hopefully, it'll lead to something in the next two seasons to something bigger and better," he says.
In keeping with tradition, Bevin has been following the fortunes of the Rovers every Saturday night US time.
"We're fourth so ideally we should be higher up so, hopefully, I'll fill the boots to get the most of what wasn't easy to come by."
Rovers coach Grant Hastings says Regan Cameron has passed his fitness test and Josh Stevenson returns with Jonty Underhill slipping on the gloves ahead of Matt Gould.
Reflecting on the Chatham Cup, Hastings counters Red Sox Manawatu coach Aaron Clegg's claims adding the goal was legitimate but neither the ref nor assistant had indicated it.
"We also ran from our half so we couldn't have been offside," he says of the 3-1 win the previous Saturday in Palmerston North.
"It's a contentious issue but he's entitled to his opinion."