After 4 months of training and preparation for the 30th National Futsal Championships, a number of the Victorian State squads have put their training to the test by participating in various competitions across Melbourne.

The Under 19 boys and Open men have been heavily involved in the Ashburton Futsal League, playing against Division 1 stalwarts such as the Ashburton Jets, Mornington Stallions and, 2007 champions, Chavez. U19 boys coach, Greg Kassidas, will be looking for a second National title in the space of 4 months after successfully leading the outdoor Under 14′s Victorian squad to glory in October.

The Open men’s team recently participated in the inaugural AFG Futsal cup held in Caroline Springs where they went undefeated to claim the trophy under coach Paul Vidic. Vidic has put a squad together based on a mixture of experience and youth which will battle it out against Futsal giants ACT Cobras and NSW Thunder in Canberra.

The Australian Football Skool Futsal State Championships held in the first week of December gave several of the junior Victorian squads the opportunity to gain some valuable match practice. The invitation to the 500 player strong tournament was a welcome addition to the training schedule with the Victorian squads faring well overall with the Under 11 Girls making the quarter finals, the Under 11 Boys making the semi finals and Under 13 Boys clinching the title with a winning goal in the last 3 seconds to win 4-3 against a Central region representative AFS team. Match results and photos can be seen on the AFS website at www.footballskool.com.au.

Many of the Under 11, 12 and 13 Victorian representative players are also playing in the FFV Melbourne Futsal League which has further aided their individual preparation for Nationals with players Kaan Korkmaz, John Buceto, Reis Aygun and Bryson Ng all banging in goals at club level.

These competitions have also been good preparation for the Victorian referees that have been nominated to officiate at the National Futsal Championships. Nominated referees Rod Salas, Shams Shahabbi and Patrick El-Zoghbi have been regular personnel at the Ashburton and Melbourne Futsal Leagues in the build up to January’s competition. One of the contributing factors to the success of these competitions has been Barry Poulsen who has worked tirelessly in appointing and supervising referees for Futsal and will continue to monitor their progress whilst at the National Championships.

FFV Talented Player Coordinator and State Futsal Referees Coach Anthony Grima, claims “these types of competitions are great preparation not just for players and referees but coaches and team mangers as well. They are played at a high intensity which will stand participants in good stead for the demanding week of competition ahead”.

Click here to see all of FFV’s representative players and teams that will be heading off to Canberra for the FFA National Futsal Championships from 6-10 January 2009.

Source : Football Federation Victoria
Published : 19/12/2008