Time for another update from New Zealand where for the second straight season Springfield is well represented. Here’s how the Chairman of the Upper Hutt City Soccer program describes it in their recent newsletter:

As many of you will know, we have another American import in our ranks this year, Patrick Carver, who has followed in the footsteps of Andy Cooper and Brian Pasierb last year in being a great ambassador for his country, and a great addition on the field for our men’s first team. One of Patricks strengths is his ability to relate to our juniors, and his coaching skills and encouragement have certainly helped the 14th grade team I coach punch above their weight this season. Many of our juniors will get the chance to learn from Patrick in the upcoming school holiday program, where he will be running a number of sessions with our first team captain Andy Le Prue. Andy is a very classy player, and between them they will ensure the holiday program is a great one for the kids to be involved in. If you haven’t registered your kids yet, please contact our junior club captain John Blaikie.

Another exciting initiative is taking place next week with the arrival of Mike Seabolt, our contact in America who has facilitated the player imports that have occurred over the past 2 years. Mike will also be getting involved with our juniors and seniors while he is here, running coaching sessions and scouting for talent, and hopefully this relationship will provide opportunities for some of our kids to secure football scholarships into the USA in the future.

And as Patrick noted in his most recent email – We are doing well, just moved in to 3rd place on the table after a hard fought win against Naenae on Saturday. Came from behind three times to win the game 4-3. I had a goal, played most of the game. We have some tough games coming up but with a little luck, we could definitely win the league and get promoted to the top level of pro soccer in New Zealand.

I’ve converted the latest newsletter into a PDF so that you can get caught up with our two local boys and their efforts at Upper Hutt, just download The Harcourt Herald to view Patrick’s comments on his stay so far as well as Seabolt’s comments which include feedback on the recently concluded Confederations Cup (the good and the bad including some coaching advice for Bradley & Co) and the upcoming MSU season. You should also check out the Upper Hutt website and the September 2008 newsletter that includes some pictures of Andy Cooper and Brian Pasierb along with Pasierb’s bio.