Located just South of Wollongong, Unanderra Hearts may not have the longest journey to the Kanga Cup in 2024, but the club have certainly come a long way since their formation by Scottish immigrants back in 1958.
The club, whose website states that their names was chosen after the founding members could not agree between Rangers and Celtic, and so chose the neutral name Hearts, after Heart of Midlothian, celebrated their 60th Anniversary in 2018 and has a long history of success amongst their junior participants.
“We focus on creating a fun and happy season, with core skills development and encouraging a ‘team’ first attitude”, Sunny Sahin, coach of their 2024 Kanag Cup entrants and a current committee member of the club said.
“The club accommodates kids between the ages of 5 and 17 and prides itself on being an inclusive club. We are a local, family friendly club and welcome new players. We are a community league club in Wollongong who focus heavily on our children’s growth in the club and have a pathway through to seniors.”
The Hearts are sending a team to compete in the U14 Boys Open Cup and are looking forward to their second experience of the competition.
“Our first time at the Kanga Cup was last year,” Sahin recalled. “We were put into the cup competition where the team come sixth out of twelve teams against National Premier League opposition.
“I requested to be put into the grade to give our kids the opportunity to see how the team would go up against high quality teams and give me an idea on their growth as they all want to make it into representative teams in our area,
“I believe it created a life-long memory and experience for the kids and it also taught me a lot as a coach.”
The Kanga Cup presents a week of football for every entrant, but it is often the off-field activities that present the most enjoyment for the playing group, and the experiences gained that would be filed under the ‘intangible’ category when assessing the worth of attending the World-famous event.
“Last year the Kanga Cup helped with team bonding and forming life-time friendships,” Sahin said. “Being at Kanga last year brought our team’s bond to a next level as we see our team as a family.
“We went ten pin bowling last year as well. To be honest everyone was happy to stay indoors and play indoor soccer every day. We were pretty tired by the end of the day, but we loved the opportunity to play up a level against amazing teams from all over the place and hopefully overseas.”
The 2024 Kanga Cup kicks-off with the Opening Ceremony on Sunday 7 July at Stage 88 in Commonwealth Park at 2pm.
