NZ Rep Alumni
On this page we celebrate Island Bay United juniors who have gone on to represent their country. We are too humble to claim them as IBU “products” but nevertheless we are proud to have given them a launching pad and pride stirs in our hearts every time we watch them play. They are proof that hard work and big dreams can take you to some fantastic places!
Liberato Cacace
In a little over 2 years Liberato Cacace has become a household name in Australasian football circles. Whether it be his lung busting runs down the left, classy touches or incisive tackling; he is one of those players who invites an air of expectation in a crowd whenever he is near the ball. And it all started at IBU when he joined as a 5 year old. Coming from a true blue Italian football family he showed early promise and by the time he was 15 was regularly starring in our U17 and U19 teams. At this stage the Phoenix did the obvious thing and snapped him up. Since then it has been a whirlwind of success including representing his country at U17, U20, U23 and full international level. Then there were his regularly brilliant performances for the Wellington Phoenix. All this before the age of 20! In 2020, after making 58 appearances and scoring 4 goals for the Phoenix, Liberato signed a three year contract with Belgian top flight club Sint-Truiden.
Sam Wright
Sam started at IBU as a 7 year old contemporary of Liberato, both being coached by club legend Paul Muollo. His promising career continued at St Pats where he captained the 1st X1 to victory in Premier division 1. He also won the IBU overall Men’s golden boot at U17 level. Sam shows great prowess in the indoor code having played for the NZ U18 Futsal Whites in the Oceania Youth Olympic qualifiers where the team finished second. In 2018 he won the golden boot at the U19 national tournament and followed that up with the MVP award in 2019. Last year he was also a member of the Capital Futsal senior squad. Having just turned 20 he seems to have many options available to him but the best thing about this for members of our club is that in 2020 he is playing for our 1st team, so please do come down to Wakefield and take a look at this awesome homegrown player.
Izaac O’Hara
Henry Hamilton
Henry started as a 5 year old at IBU and quickly made an impression with his energy and goal scoring abilities. He was initially invited to join the Phoenix Academy at the age of 11 and for the next two years continued to impress both the Phoenix coaches and on the field for IBU on Saturdays. Henry was selected for the U17 All Whites in September 2018 and went on to earn 11 caps and score 6 goals in various tournaments including the 2019 U17 World Cup in Brazil. From 2019 to 2020 he played for the Phoenix Reserves in the National League as a combative central midfielder. In January 2021 he moved to the University of Maryland to start tertiary studies and continue his playing career on the American College circuit.
Anna McCarthy
Anna recently joined our illustrious list of NZ representative alumni when she was selected in the 2020 NZ Secondary Schools under 16 Girls team’s tour of the Australia.
Anna began her football career as a 6 year old at IBU and first made a mixed Sharks team as a 10th grader. She played her last year for us as a Shark in 13th grade in 2017. Since then she has gone on to join the excellent Wellington United girls programme and plays in an all-girls 15th Grade team that plays against boys teams in the Winter League.
We look forward to seeing Anna represent her country in 2020 and beyond.