The National Under-14 Futsal team team yesterday collected their second win in the 30th Australian National Futsal Championship in Canberra.

The young Solomons lads continued their winning streak in Pool A by defeating ACT Cobras 3-2 yesterday. The scoreline was a repeat of their first match where they overcame Northern New South Wales Hornets 3-2 on Tuesday.

The Solomon side will observe a bye today.

However, tomorrow, they will face Queensland in their second to last matches. Then on Friday, the young side will round up the championship against NSW Lightning.

Total of nine National Futsal team competed in the Under-14 categories.

They are ACT Cobras, Northern NSW Hornets, NSW Lighting, Queensland, ACT Colts, Victoria, South Australia, NSW Thunder and Solomon Islands.

The 30th Football Federation Australian (FFA) National Futsal Championships is proudly hosted by Capital Football in conjunction with Football Federation Australia.

The FFA National Futsal Championships are by far the biggest National football tournament in Australia, attracting up to 2000 competitors from Australian States, Territories, and several Nations within the Oceania Region.

Meanwhile, other results on Day One, New South Wales Lighting thrashed Queensland 13-3, Victoria defeated ACT Colts 5-3 and South Australia defeated Southern NSW 7-3.

Source : Solomon Star
Published : 8/1/2009

MENS COMPETITION NOW ON TUESDAY NIGHTS….

Registrations are now open for League 2 (Mens Competition) which kicks off in early February on Tuesday nights.The Bayside Pirates are holding a pre season Tournament on Saturday 24 commencing at 1pm.Sponsored by Hansa Butchery, the Hansa Cup is open to all players over the age of 18 and entry is free (normal FFV Insurance fees apply).This is a good opportunity to get some pre season training in before the regular season starts. Register on line or contact Mark for further details.

ACADEMY COMMENCES FOR SUB JUNIOR & JUNIOR PLAYERS

We are now taking registrations for our Futsal Academy for Sub Juniors and Juniors, both Boys and Girls.Players will undergo a structured training program and will be given an opportunity to represent the Bayside Pirates in the FFV Futsal League. For further details contact Mark.

WHATS ON IN 2009?!

Entries are now been taken for the Club and Corporate Days as well as the Mens Hansa Pre Season Cup (Saturday January 24th). All Clubs and Companies are welcome to enter as many teams as they wish and it’s FREE! For further details contact us via our website or ring Mark on 0413 527 501. Online registrations can also be made. February 10 2009 is the start of the new Summer Season, so organise your teams now! Our Futsal Academy will be commencing on Saturday February 14 2009. For further details contact Zoran on 0406 155 622.

Source : Bayside Pirates Futsal Club
Published : 8/1/2009

Quick reflexes, a thirst for competition and natural skill has allowed Gympie futsal player Jake Stokes to secure a place on a Queensland representative side taking part in national competition in Sydney beginning this weekend.

Stokes, 17, claimed the highly coveted spot on the side after playing as a member of the Wide Bay side in the Viking Futsal Association competition last year around Easter at the Gold Coast.

It was in this competition that Stokes’ ability was showcased over a series of games to selectors and his involvement in the Queensland side confirmed.

“The games were quite tough but it was a good experience and I was able to put my game together in front of the selectors,” he said.

But four months lapsed before Stokes found out whether he had been selected.

“It was around four months before we heard anything,” he said.

“An envelope arrived in the post one day and by that stage, we had all forgotten about it. It was a slight surprise really.”

The national competition will run into the majority of next week, leaving Stokes plenty of time outside of competition to take in the surrounds.

“We have to travel down by bus, so the first day will be just recovering from that long trip,” he said.

Over the last few months, Stokes has been training and bonding with the side.

“We have had training sessions every two weeks at a number of locations, including one in Gympie and another in Maryborough,” he said.

“It’s been good because I haven’t had to travel too far.”

Stokes’ interest in futsal was first developed after being introduced to the game as a Year 8 student at Gympie State High School.

In addition to playing with Gympie High and in the Viking Futsal Association competition, Stokes also plays soccer with the Gympie Miners.

Playing for the Miners has equipped Stokes with a range of skills which he draws on when playing futsal.

“Both games are very similar, but there also some big differences as well,” he said.

“My fitness is great and I feel in excellent shape.”

Another great opportunity to arise from this representative journey is also the chance to play abroad.

Stokes’ mother Maree Evans said there was a possibility of making an Australian side to tour places like Russia or Brazil.

“They are exciting prospects, so Jake can have that possibility to look forward to following the Sydney trip,” she said.

And confidence is not lacking in the young star who says he is “confident” of a good result from his visit to Australia’s capital city.

“We have a capable team and we should give it a good go,” he said.

Source : The Gympie Times
By : Matthew Lee
Published : 7/1/2009

ACT coach Vanh Manthongsy dreams of a women’s Futsal World Cup but admits right now it is just that a dream.

Manthongsy led the open women’s team, the Cobras, to their second victory in as many matches at the national futsal championships against Victoria yesterday.

The 35-year-old has been playing the indoor game for almost 20 years and said the lack of a national team meant potential stars were signing up for outdoor soccer.

When Manthongsy played at previous national championships there had been tri-nation play-offs between Australia, England and Russia.

However, an Australian women’s team has not suited up against international opponents since 2005.

”Nothing like that [the tri-nations] has ever happened again and we’re going back 10 or 15 years,” Manthongsy said.

”We do lose a lot of players to the outdoor game because when they hit 16 there’s junior Matildas and training squads.

”They all start playing futsal but when they hit a certain age … they’ve really got nothing to keep them in the game of futsal so they move on. There are so many talented girls out there that would thrive on international futsal.”

Vanh and teammates from Canberra and Sydney toured Spain last year as a representative team from ACT Futsal.

The coach hoped aspiring players would have the same opportunity in future years.

Manthongsy has been planning the Cobras’ assault on this week’s championship for the last three months. They are undefeated after the opening two matches and sit equal first on the ladder.

TODAY

National futsal championships, day three, at venues around Canberra from 8.30am to 9pm.

Source : The Canberra Times
By : Chris Dutton
Published : 8/1/2009

Round 1 Summary

After the formalities and entertainment, action finally got underway at the AIS with the Men’s Open defending champions, ACT Cobras, looking to defend their title against the NSW Thunder in a grand final rematch from last year.

With National representation on the line, the ACT Cobras and NSW Thunder are favourites to compete for the honour but little could separate the two sides early in the competition with a 1-1 draw to kick off their 2009 campaign.

With revenge in their sights, NSW’s Lachlan Wright got the visitors off to the perfect start opening the scoring after only two minutes but couldn’t maintain their lead when Elia Salloum levelled the scores only minutes later.

Despite numerous opportunities either side of half time, neither team could break the deadlock with a combination of wood work and solid goal keeping.

In other results, Victoria gave Queensland a touch up with a 7-1 win in their opening game while NSW Lightning defeated the ACT Colts 6-2 and New Caledonia’s FC Ferrand went down to Northern NSW Hornets 5-3.

While in the Women’s Open division, Victoria, ACT Cobras and NSW Thunder all got their championships off to a perfect start with victories over Northern NSW, Western Australia and Southern NSW respectively.

Rounds 2 & 3 Summary

With Day two completed at the FFA National Futsal Championships in Canberra, the ACT Cobras and NSW Thunder continue to lead the way in both the Men’s and Women’s Open Division competitions.

Men’s Open

The NSW Thunder and ACT Cobras remain undefeated after four matches at the championships with both sides easily disposing of their opposition.

New Caledonia’s FC Ferrand recorded their first victory of the tournament with the visitors recording a 2-1 victory over Queensland in a tough encounter and bruising encounter but couldn’t back it up going down 6-0 to the much fancied NSW Thunder followed by a 5-0 loss to NSW Lightning this evening.

The Thunder kicked their day off with a 7-2 over Northern NSW Hornets courtesy of a further two goals to Lachlan Wright brining his championship tally to three goals in two matches while team mate Daniel Martinez notched a hat trick in their victory over FC Ferrand before disposing of the ACT Colts 6-1.

Southern NSW claimed their first points with a 5-2 victory over the ACT Colts but couldn’t repeat the performance against the ACT Cobras going down 5-0 as the Cobras notched another victim with other victories over Victoria and Queensland, 5-1 and 7-2 respectively.

Queensland has made a less than desirable start to the tournament going down to both ACT sides and was the New Caledonian visitors while Southern NSW has recorded two victories from their three games today.

Win’s over the ACT Colts and Victoria, 5-2 and 3-2, sees the Southern NSW side sit mid table with a hand full of games remaining.

Women’s Open

With same two teams undefeated, NSW Thunder leads the Women’s Open competition undefeated after three games while the ACT Cobras follow closely behind on seven points courtesy of a draw late on day two.

The NSW Thunder side knocked over Western Australia in their opening match of day two with braces from Hayley Buckingham and Natalie Spirovski sinking their opposition 8-1 before defeating their state rivals 2-0.

The Lightning scored a 5-0 win over Southern NSW but suffered their first defeat of the 2009 campaign at the hands of the Thunder.

The ACT continued their impressive form from the opening day with a 3-1 victory over Victoria before coming away with a single against the Southern NSW Flames courtesy of a scoreless draw.

Western Australia are yet to record a victory from their three matches with losses to Victoria and NSW Thunder following yesterday’s loss to the ACT Cobras while Northern NSW has suffered a similar fate with losses to both Southern NSWs teams.

The two Southern NSW sides occupy mid table with one win, one loss and a draw to the Flames while Southern NSW has suffered two defeats after three rounds.

Source : Dan Kennedy & Capital Football
Published : 8/1/2009

The ACT Men’s Open team is confident ahead of the Football Federation Australia National Futsal Championships to be played here on home soil in Canberra from January 6th to January 10th 2009.

The defending champions believe they’ve compiled the strongest team in five years for the nationals with a good combination of experience and exuberance.

“This year there’s a few young kids come through that are really going to show their worth this year,” ACT team member and national player, Trent Flanigan said.

“It’s great to have a few young boys come through.”

“We’ll be depending on the young boys a little bit more this year so hopefully they’ll come good, not much has changed since this year’s nationals’.”

“We’ve got plenty of experience and we go in confident.”

The ACT has always punched above its weight when it comes to Nationals’ with the Men’s Open side claiming eight titles in the past ten years despite being the smallest state/territory to compete at the championships.

“I don’t understand it because we don’t have the depth [New South Wales] has, they’ve got very strong 50 or 100 players but our top 20 or 30 individually are considered the cream of the crop in Australia,” Flanigan said.

“We’ve obviously got some formula that works and we’re certainly not complaining.”

“It’s a chance for ACT players to pit themselves against the rest of Australia but while we’re only a small territory when the championships around we’ve got a point to prove.”

The ACT Men’s team is made up predominantly of current or former national Futsalroo players but many of whom are coming to the end of their careers with either work or family commitments becoming a priority.

“There are a lot of us who are coming to the end of our tether but it’s certainly in good hands after a few of us are done.”

“Every year the older players come out and are the best players at these nationals but you have kids and there’s a few of them in that situation.”

“I guess it hard to let go so every year you say it might be your last but you win it again and then you get hungry come December to defend your title.”

Since Australia’s move from Oceania Football Confederation to the Asian Football Confederation there’s more at stake than just a national title with selection for the Futsalroos a possibility for those who stand out at the week-long championships.

“We’ve got the Kuala Lumpur 5’s in March, then the ASEAN Championships and then the Asian Cup,” Flanigan said.

“Since we’ve joined Asian we’re now traveling to five or six tournaments a year so really January is the only time to prove yourself as a player.”

Source : Capital Football

Futsal has come a long way since the sport first began to take shape in 1971 at the South Bankstown YMCA in Revesby where Dawn Gilligan, mother of Scott Gilligan, took her son’s Under-10 outdoor team indoors during a wet season.

Since the birth of Futsal on that cold and wet day in 1971, Scott had little idea how the sport would grow to become so large nor did he ever imagine that it would see him travel the world as both a player and a coach.

“My mother used to work at the YMCA at Revesby and she just decided to bring the kids inside for a kick around cause we were sick and tired of not playing because of the rain,” Scott Gilligan said.

“The following week, a gentleman brought his team in just to give us a game because football was again rained out.”

“So my mother and the YMCA manager, Joe Brent, decided to write to England requesting the rules of the game.”

Back then it was ‘rebound’ indoor soccer until 1983 when the governing body of Futsal, FIFUSA, approached Brent’s Australian Indoor Soccer Association, about converting to Futsal.

In 2009, the sport will celebrate a significant milestone with the National Futsal Championships celebrating its 30th anniversary in Canberra as the region hosts the week long tournament for the 21st time.

The first indoor national’s took place in Melbourne, Victoria in 1980 before moving to Broken Hill, NSW in 1981 where women played for the first time before returned to its perpetual home in Revesby, NSW in 1982.

The ACT then hosted twenty of the 27 proceeding national’s with the exception of South Australia (1985), Moe, Victoria (1988), Queensland (1991, 2006) and Homebush, NSW (2002,2003).

More recently, the FFA’s National Futsal Championships has welcomed international teams including a return of the Solomon Islands with a team while New Caledonia will be making their debut at this year’s tournament.

Hopefully we can expect plenty more international visitors in the years to come with the former Futsalroo’s coach, Gillian, recently taking up a new role as the Futsal Development Officer with the Oceania Football Confederation.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to be able to pass on some knowledge to people who want to learn something about the game and progress it to help to establish league’s in their own countries.”

“With Brian Codrington and the help of the Oceania Football Confederation, we’ve organized a program where we’ll start academies in each of these countries, they’ll train every week and each of these academies will hopefully have the opportunity to come to Australia to play in our nationals.”

“By 2010 we’re hoping that every country will be able to come to the Nationals”

“It would be a great opportunity for these countries to get involved.”

Source : Capital Football
Published : 8/1/2009

New Zealand is the new federation affiliate to AMF, after that was decide in the last congress of AMF, this meeting was atnd by Mr. Paul Wandsworth, member of Vikings New Zealand.

In order of this, AMF only recognize as members of AMF, Vikings Australia and Vikings New Zealand, and no other federation from this countries are members of the World Futsal Association.

Source : Independent Futsal
Published : 6/1/2009

Canberra’s FIFA accredited Futsal referee, Chris Colley, believes the FFA National Futsal Championships are vital to the development of both established and aspiring officials looking to make careers in the sport.

With plenty of focus on the players during the weeklong event, Colley sees the annual competition as a vital stepping stone for officials that come from around Australia to take part in the week long championships.

“The bulk of the referees come from New South Wales but there are also referees from Queensland, ACT, Victoria and South Australia,” said the ACT’s only FIFA Futsal referee.

“It’s an excellent opportunity to referee at a very high standard at the Nationals and we expect referees to be at a similar standard so they have the opportunity to be exposed to better quality games.”

“This tournament is vital to referee development and it’s an excellent opportunity for them to really learn.”

“The sport of Futsal is very underdeveloped nationally and there’s a chance for referees at the National Championships to actually get in and talk to referees from interstate.”

“This is the best yearly competition in Australia so it’s really important especially for up and coming referees for further careers in refereeing.”

Despite reaching the pinnacles of Futsal refereeing, Colley will line up for his fifth championships.

“I always enjoy refereeing at the Nationals.”

“This will be my fifth championships refereeing but before that I was playing and coaching so I’ve been coming to Canberra for the last fifteen years before moving down here.”

“I enjoy the opportunity refereeing with the younger kids because it gives us all a buzz so it’s good fun”

With only four FIFA Futsal officiating badges on offer for Australian referees and strict criteria, competition is tough to maintain the accreditation from year to year said Colley.

“It’s very fierce with only four spots but with all the good juniors coming up through the ranks it makes it difficult for me to maintain my [FIFA] badge.”

“As a sport it’s getting there and as referees we’re moving in the right direction.”

Source : Football Federation Australia
Published : 7/1/2009

Competitors at this week’s national futsal championships in Canberra received extra motivation when Football Federation Australia said yesterday the winning open men’s team would gain entry to an Asian champions competition.

The FFA’s high performance manager John Boultbee officially opened the national futsal titles yesterday and announced plans for a new Asian Football Confederation Champions League tournament for futsal in July.

Boultbee also said the FFA was running an extensive review into futsal, asking everyone at this week’s championships and people involved in the sport around Australia to complete an online survey.

Futsal now comes under the governing body of FIFA, also the world governing body for outdoor soccer and in turn, Australia is revamping its futsal program.

”The whole situation of futsal is difficult, there is some issues about the governance of futsal world-wide, countries all over the world are battling this and we are here as well,” Boultbee said.

”We are undertaking a review at the moment which will be finished in a couple of months that will recommend new structures, new governance and a futsal development plan from the grass-roots up to the national level and that’s the first time that’s happened.”

This year’s futsal championships will also have roving selectors watching the open and youth men’s divisions, to pick national teams to compete in this year’s Asian Futsal Cup.

The ACT Cobras and NSW Thunder drew the opening game of the tournament 1-1 at AIS Arena.

The Cobras are the reigning champions in the Open men’s division, if they win again they will have a chance to play in the new Asian champions league for futsal. The champions league will include the 10 best futsal club or state teams from 10 different Asian nations.

Most of the 1200 players involved in the 30th year of the futsal championships packed into AIS Arena for yesterday’s opening ceremony.

Divisions from under-11s through to open men and women continue today with finals on Saturday.

TODAY

The 2009 national futsal championships, day two, in Canberra from 8.30am to 9pm at various venues. Details at www.futsalnationals.com.au.

Source : The Canberra Times
By : Merryn Sherwood
Published : 7/1/2009