Football fundraiser goes to the dogs

The team at Star Turf in Hamilton is still tired after hosting a 24-hour game of football.

Held over Auckland Anniversary weekend, owner Duncan Wright and head coach Lee Massey created a taxing event to raise funds for charity.

Players were slotted in for one hour of game-time in a tag-team format to keep the ball rolling. The match started at 5pm on Friday and continued until 5pm Saturday.

There were no referees, but no fallouts, Wright said.

The game was all in the name of Assistance Dogs New Zealand, a trust that aims to provide purpose-bred and trained dogs to people living with a disability.

Wright and Massey approached funding development manager Wendy Isaacs, who thought the idea was fantastic.

On the day, she brought along puppy-in-training Asher who is football mad. He was even given a soccer ball for Christmas.

Asher, who is 11 months old, played alongside young players during Kid’s Hour.

Isaacs said Assistance Dogs was very grateful to be the recipients of the fundraising.

‘‘I think it was a very unique experience for our puppy and for us to be involved in a community event,’’ Isaacs said. ‘‘For us, it’s about participating. We enjoyed every bit of it.’’

The idea for a fundraiser began when a regular to Star Turf mentioned someone had set the World Record for the longest