MOOLOO MANIA Ole, ole, ole, Mooloo, Mooloo

“I was born in Te Awamutu…” When Tim Finn sang that line for Split Enz, not only did I love it because so was I, but it also gave my hometown a much needed boost.

It was always in the shadow of leafier, fancier Cambridge. Yes “TA” had a better cinema, a bigger dairy factory, more cars on lawns, and an actual train station (which has since been wiped from the face of the Earth), but it was also deemed perfect for a nearby prison and psychiatric hospital.

Still, life in Te Awamutu was idyllic in a Middle America kind of way. Neighbours had swimming pools, kids could roam free, it had active sports clubs. Wrestling was big. Now it’s BMX and cycling.

And even though I was a soccer and tennis kid, everyone followed the Mooloos. Well when I say everyone, my mother was on the committee of the Te Awamutu Music