Helensville boy, Scott Werthmann has been lucky enough to be involved in two Soccer World Cups. Scott’s dad, Chris, fulfilled his childhood dream of going to the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro when he booked a trip for them both to the World Cup in Brazil last year. They travelled with AMSportstours and stayed in Buzio, one hour from Rio, where they were hosted by the local soccer club. All the games were in Rio at the Maracana and Scott said he would never forget the noise of the 74,000 fans and the quality of the football. Whilst there, they visited all the local landmarks and beaches, spending time in Chile, then back to NZ. Scott said it was “the best experience of my life and I met loads of friends from all over the world who I still keep in touch with”.
Scott has been involved in the NZ Youth Programme, training over the years for Ball Boy, Escort and Flag Bearer duties from the small local games to Internationals.This year, the Under 20’s Soccer World Cup is being hosted by New Zealand and Scott, along with the YP Kids have been called into action for various duties.
Scott has been one of six kids carrying the FIFA flag onto the pitch for three of the games. They have to attend a lot of rehearsals but Scott’s school, Kingsway, have been very supportive. They have to arrive 5 hours before the event and have to adhere to the strict FIFA protocols. Scott says, “It’s been a fantastic experience, especially the hype and noise when you walk out onto the pitch but have to be very careful not to knock the ball off the podium with the flag!” “It’s been cool to chat to the players in the tunnel, meet new friends and we’ve all had a great laugh in the YP holding room”. Scott’s duties have included the Opening Ceremony, NZ v’s Ukraine, NZ v’s USA and the semi final this week. They had tickets for all the Auckland games, missing only one, as Scott was away to Sports Camp with his school!
At a pre-World Cup event, Scott carried the Fiji Flag in the tunnel escort for Prince Harry and PM John Key at the VIP event at The Cloud. Prince Harry shook Scott’s hand and they had a chat about who they supported. Scott said he supported Manchester City and Prince Harry said he was a big Arsenal supporter. Scott also carried out Ball Boy duties at the 5 Nations Cup event at North Harbour Stadium.
It’s a soccer mad house! Scott plays Club for 13th grade ECB Metro, School Soccer Team 1st , who won the ASB School League last year and also plays for the School Futsal Team. Chris coaches and plays the odd game himself, whilst mum manages the Futsal team.