We must continue our struggle

OPINION: I have A dream.

I have a dream that from the year 2009, New Zealand football embarks on a journey that lifts the round ball game to heights never seen before in this country of ours.

I have a dream that the men and women who govern our sport take the monies earned by the outstanding deeds of our fine young men in that never-to-be forgotten contest against Bahrain, and use it for the betterment of our sons and daughters, and their sons and daughters after them.

I have a dream that young boys and girls of all races and creeds in our blessed nation join hands together in football, so that the playing fields of our towns and cities be the breeding grounds of future national teams which will include players of Asian, African, South American and Pacific Island descent.

I have a dream that over-30s players relinquish their own faltering football careers, for they have had their time, and now it's the turn of our children, and they cry out for experienced players and coaches to guide them on their way.

And I dream that those children be given facilities on which they can play and practise every day, those facilities to be built with the World Cup windfall received by Fifa, which is in itself matched dollar for dollar by our government, so that children the length and breadth of the country can hone their skills without fear of injury, illness or cancellation.

I have a dream that our All Whites be given regular competition against quality opposition so that they may become more skilled, more battle hardened and more experienced, and that those matches be well attended by football's new legion of fans, who, understanding the importance to the financial wellbeing of football, come in huge numbers to support their team whether the match be against Brazil or Barbados, England or Egypt, or Chile or China or the Czech Republic.

I have a dream that the football fever engulfing the country spreads, so that the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League, and local teams in their domestic leagues, enjoy and are buoyed by legions of cheering, flag waving supporters as our top team were.

We must be free of conflict with other codes. We are too small a nation to indulge the luxury of divided loyalties, and I dream that players, fans, and administrators of football embrace the players, fans, and administrators of rival codes as brothers and sisters, in an atmosphere of friendship and love, and support one another's codes as if they were their own, enjoying their successes, and sharing their sorrows.

I have a dream that through the coordinated actions of all New Zealanders, last week's All Whites' success is not an isolated event, and that our country shall qualify for the 2014 World Cup, and the World Cup after that, setting in place a snowballing effect that ultimately makes our nation a serious opponent for any country in the world, as other countries of modest populations have been able to do.

As we walk this path we must make the pledge that we will always march ahead.

We must commit time, energy, knowledge and money to the ongoing success of football. We must ask not what football can do for us, but what we can do for football, whether it be to coach a junior side, donate some soccer balls, or eat a sausage.

If New Zealand is to become a great football nation, this must become true.

* Any similarity between this speech and Martin Luther King's speech "I Have A Dream" is purely coincidental. And for those among you who were concentrating, so is any likeness to John F Kennedy's "Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You" speech.

* Football columnist Billy Harris is a former All White.

- © Fairfax NZ News