This article was in yesterdays Daily Herald - Nice going, Gerald! We are looking forward to seeing the documentary tonight. Daily Herald Media lbabiarz@gannett Gerald Mortensen was a football player during his high school days at D.C. Everest, but when he was living in New Zealand, he began to follow rugby and soccer, too. When Mortensen’s friends prodded him to pick a soccer team to follow, rather than choose an English Premier League power like Manchester United, his love for the underdog made him opt for second-tier club Blackpool. No wonder, then, that the documentary, “Next Goal Wins,” would appeal to Mortensen. The film, which tells the story of the American Samoa side — billed as the worst soccer team on earth in search of its first win — was available for screenings. Mortensen, now the creative director at Wausau’s Flapjack Creative advertising agency, thought hosting a showing of the film would be fun. Piggy-backing on the surge of local soccer interest, especially with the ongoing World Cup, Mortensen will have a screening of “Next Goal Wins” at 8:30 p.m. Monday at Cedar Creek Cinema in Rothschild. Tickets are available online at https://gathr.us/screening/8118. “I thought it was a great type of way to help grow the game in the region,” Mortensen said. “We’ve got the new soccer complex coming next year on Kent Street, we’ve got the World Cup, I thought it would be great to get a screening. It will be about 90 minutes after the U.S. finishes its game with Ghana, so hopefully people will come in and get a smile on their faces — or a bigger smile.” Mortensen is already doing his part to grow the sport in the area, serving as a coach for the Wausau United U-10 team. “People are still amazed at how an Everest football player ended up coaching soccer,” Mortensen said with a laugh. Even for those less interested in the beautiful game, “Next Goal Wins” — directed by Mike Brett and Steve Jamison — promises to be a compelling human interest story. It focuses on Dutch coach Thomas Rongen trying to mold an American Samoan team that suffered a world record 31-0 defeat to Australia and went four years without scoring a goal. Aside from trying to boost the soccer community, Mortensen is hoping that the screening can also be a spur for the local arts scene, too. “CedarCreekhasbeengreat,” Mortensen said. “Maybe this can be the start of a way to get other independent films into the city.” Lou Babiarz can be reached at 715-845-0700. Find him on Twitter as @loubabiarz
Posted on: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 16:06:01 +0000
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