Football: Rotorua boys integral to WaiBOP Under-14 national win

Rotorua's Tom Parry (left), Dylan Tamariki, Bronson Anderson and Cailyn Trask helped the WaiBOP under-14 football team to national glory last week. Photo / Supplied

Waikato/Bay of Plenty Football has enjoyed a stellar year, the most recent standout performance being a National Age Group win by the under-14 boys' side.

Playing integral roles in that team at the tournament in Wellington last week were Rotorua's Tom Parry, who captained the side, Dylan Tamariki, Bronson Anderson and Cailyn Trask.

Cailyn attends John Paul College while the other three are students at Rotorua Boys' High School.

The tournament was played in a round-robin format with each team playing six games in five days.

WaiBOP beat Capital 3-0, Central 3-0, Auckland 2-1, Mainland 2-0, Football South 5-1 and on the final day, with the national title already sewn up, drew 2-all with Northern Comets to remain unbeaten for the week.

Cailyn's father Jason Trask, who was at the tournament, said it was an impressive performance against some powerhouses of the sport.

"They played as a team and with good physicality. They had good coaching as well, they picked the right teams for the right opposition.

"To win against Auckland [was a highlight], we'd previously lost to them in a pre-season match, and the win against Mainland.

"Mainland are always strong, that was the other key game, they're from Christchurch all the way to Picton and of course Auckland have a big pool of players as well."

Trask said the four Rotorua players showed a lot of promise.

"Tom is a good keeper and he was also captain, which was selected by the team, and Bronson was the vice-captain. They all play together for the Rotorua United Federation team on Sundays.

"My boy Cailyn has been invited to train at the West Ham United Football Academy in the UK. We went to the Gold Coast in October to train at the West Ham academy there, which is where he got selected to go to the UK in April."

Sporting success is not uncommon for the Trask family. Cailyn's cousin Kaleb led the Bay of Plenty Under-19 rugby team to the Jock Hobbs Memorial title this year and starred for the Bay of Plenty Steamers in the Mitre 10 Cup.

WaiBOP under-14 results at National Age Group Championships

Won 3-0 v Capital
Won 3-0 v Central
Won 2-1 v Auckland
Won 2-0 v Mainland
Won 5-1 v Football South
Drew 2-2 v Northern Comets