Football Federation Victoria’s brand new Futsal competition – the Melbourne Futsal League – kicks off next weekend with five clubs from around Melbourne participating.

“This is an exciting new chapter for Futsal in Victoria” said FFV Futsal Business Development Manager, Chris Ryan.

“With the game of Futsal continuing to grow in popularity, we are happy to establish a Futsal league for our junior players and re-affirm our support for the game and its continued development as part of the Football family” says Ryan.

Each club will host a round at their own home venue. In turn, this will provide maximum exposure to the game of Futsal, which is played in all of the Metropolitan Zones. The Melbourne Futsal League provides another avenue for participation in Football and will seek to attract more young players to the game, increasing participation levels at a grassroots level.

The inaugural League will consist of both Under 11 boys and Under 13 boys age categories, with Football Federation Victoria aiming to expand the competition to more age groups in both male and female categories in future seasons.

From a football perspective, the Melbourne Futsal League will also improve and better prepare our current junior players for competitions at State and National level, particularly at the National Futsal Championships.

FFV Talented Player Coordinator Anthony Grima agrees “the League will provide players with the opportunity to play in competitive games more regularly. Futsal is a fast game which improves fitness, passing and positional play. An established league, will provide players with long term benefits and raise the domestic standard of the game as a whole.”

The Melbourne Futsal League comprises affiliated Futsal clubs that have worked closely with Football Federation Victoria to provide the right platform for Futsal’s ongoing development.

The five clubs forming the inaugural league are:

• Victory Fives Futsal Club
• Cobras Futsal Club
• Melbourne Reds Futsal Club
• Victorian Lions Futsal Club
• Australian Futsal Group

Round 1 of the Melbourne Futsal League kicks-off on Sunday 9th November for the Under 11 Boys and Sunday 16th November for the Under 13 Boys.

The first round will be hosted by Australian Futsal Group at Caroline Springs Leisure Centre.

The League season will continue until the end of February 2009.

Click here for further information regarding the Melbourne Futsal League.

Source : Football Federation Victoria
Published : 31/10/2008