Press Release

“5 Star Pink” – raises funds for breast cancer research

Sydney Benfica FC in conjunction with 5 Star Futsal are raising money for breast cancer research and awareness by hosting the “5 Star Pink” fund raising initiative.

This will see the club wearing a pink strip for all home games in this year Football NSW Futsal Premier League. During their home games, Sydney Benfica FC will be collecting gold coin donations and selling pink ribbon merchandise.The National Breast Cancer Foundation is the leading not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to supporting and promoting high quality research into the prevention, detection and treatment of breast cancer.

The Foundation is committed to funding high quality research responsive to the needs and interests of women affected by breast cancer. Since being established in 1994, the Foundation has awarded more than $55 million to 230 breast cancer research projects across Australia.

Breast cancer is one of the most commonly occurring cancers in Australian women, with 13,600 new cases expected to be diagnosed this year. But thanks to excellent research, deaths from the disease have decreased by 22% in the last decade, with more women knowing the benefits of early detection and an increase in treatment options.

“5 Star Pink” vital contribution ensures the NBCF can keep working towards a cure.

Support “5 Star Pink” to make a real difference to the many lives touched by breast cancer.

For more information contact:

NAME: Mrs. Anastasia D’Addona, Sydney Benfica FC
PHONE: 0405 355 276 – Mobile
EMAIL: lorenzo.daddona@benfica.com.au

For further information regarding the National Breast Cancer Foundation please visit www.nbcf.org.au

[ Click here for the Official Press Release (DOC) ]

We have had to issue an updated draw for the Men’s 2009 Winter League. Please advise all your players accordingly.

With a team no longer part of the competition, to maintain the symmetry with both groups the Academy team was withdrawn from their half of the draw. That left 5 teams in each group thus creating a “Bye” in each group; to avoid having 2 teams being idle every week it was decided that both teams that would now receive a “bye” will play each other on the night and the result will count towards their respective tables.

The table below shows team number 3, formerly the Academy, and team number 7, formerly Sydney Tigers both being called WILDCARD.

This weeks draw had Maccabi maulers playing v The academy and Enfield Rovers v Sydney Tigers; so now those 2 games have become the wildcard game between Maccabi v Enfield Rovers. The same process will continue until the round robin is completed and the semifinals commence as per the original draw.

This way minimum disruptions and changes to the original draw are guaranteed in terms of rescheduling games. There have been no changes to the Women’s draw.

Thank you very much for your cooperation in this matter.

Click here to see the revised draw (XLS)

With only a Few weeks until NSW Thunder kick off their 1st A.F.C Club championship campaign in Isfahan, Iran, The team has been announced with the 14 man squad travelling to Isfahan.

Coach Jamie Amendolia has selected Peter Spathis, Dylan Maloney, Toby Seeto, Danny Martinez, Tuan Cao, Andrew Paine, Adrian Vizzari, Roberto Maiorana, Josh Da Palma, Miles Downie, Andres Gomez, Chris Zeballos, Marino Musumeci, Shervin Adeli. From the initial list of 20 players the 6 who missed out will be on standby in case of injuries.The squad has a number of new faces with 16 year old Shervin Adeli getting an opportunity to move up to the men’s side as he has impressed during training and matches during the selection process.

Jamie Amendolia said,” The final 14 players have now been informed of the position to represent NSW in Iran. Over the last 10-12 weeks the players have trained very hard and their commitment to the sport and program has been nothing short of exceptional, making the final decision a very hard one to make. Due to injuries, work commitments and personal reasons some of the more experienced players were not able to make themselves available for selection. We have also had to add and bring the squad up to 14 players including 3 goalkeepers in accordance with the regulations of the tournament. Some may say that this is a changing of the guard for the sport of Futsal in NSW. It will now give us the opportunity to bring some fresh faces onto the international scene, and it gives me great delight to be able to do this. It is my hope that the Futsal community gives its full support to these players in the weeks to come as they endeavour to compete with the best club teams from Asia. ”

NSW Thunder has been drawn in Group B with Port Authority (THA), Wuhan Dilong (CHN), Pro’s Café (LIB), and Al Sadd (QAT). It will be a good test to see where Australian Futsal is at, and will be an invaluable opportunity for this side which are set to create a piece of history being the first Australian club side invited to this prestigious tournament.

Jamie Amendolia said, “Some may say that we received the easier group of the two, but when analysing the teams this is not the case. All of the teams that we will be competing against play in professional leagues in their respective countries. They are afforded the luxury of purely playing Futsal as a profession. They are also able to train 8-10 times a week and develop as Futsal players.

Port Authority of Thailand currently has 3 players from the Thai national team. Over the last few weeks they have also been trying to buy international players for this tournament. Wuhan Dilong will be a very hard team. They have just completed their national league which consisted of 56 rounds, in which they scored something in the vicinity of 350 goals. Their team consists of 8 current Chinese national players who just competed in the last World Cup in Brazil. Pro’s Cafe also have 6 players who are in the national Lebanese team, who were knocked out of the last world cup qualifiers by eventual winners Iran in the quarter finals. Al Saad has also been out shopping. They have just signed 2 Brazilian players and 1 foreign Asian player to bolster their team, as they are allowed by the rules on buying import players for the tournament.

We will be not be underestimating any team in our group. It will be a massive challenge ahead, but I know it is one which the players and myself and relishing. ”

Football NSW and its members wish NSW Thunder the very best of luck in Isfahan!

Match Details

2009 AFC Futsal Club Championship match schedule:

4 July

16:30 New South Wales Thunder (AUS) v Wuhan Dilong (CHN)

5 July

11:30 Al Sadd (QAT) v New South Wales Thunder (AUS)

8 July

16:30 New South Wales Thunder (AUS) v Port Authority (THA)

9 July

11:30 Pro’s Café (LIB) v New South Wales Thunder (AUS)

11 July

16:30 Winner Group B v Runner-up Group A
19:00 Winner Group A v Runner-up Group B

12 July

16:30 Third-place play-off
19:00 Final

All matches to be played at the Pirouzi Stadium, Esfahan. All kick-off times local.

North City Futsal is introducing a Winter Futsal league at the AUT Sport and Fitness Centre, 90 Akoranga Drive, Northcote from Friday 19th June 2009.

The first league will run each Sunday for 10 weeks and the registration fee is $395.

Online registrations open this weekend. Click here for details and to register.

Limited spaces. Registrations will close 5pm Tuesday 16th June or earlier if league is full.

For more information contact Mark Rossi on 0272 171 918 or email soccerama@xtra.co.nz

About North City Futsal

North City is a branch of East City Futsal – the longest established futsal club in New Zealand – based at the ASB Stadium in Kohimarama for over 25 years. We are looking forward to establishing Futsal on the North Shore.

This is a new venue and we will be starting with a social adults league and we would like to implement all age groups, male, female and mixed leagues within the next couple of seasons.

Come and join us and enjoy the wonderful game of Futsal. The fantastic advantage about Futsal Indoor Soccer is it’s never rained out or weather dependant and its on at same venue each week – no cancellations! Referees are supplied for each game.

If you require more information do not hesitate to call Mark Rossi on 0272171918 or would like more information or to register your interest in other age groups please contact us. Once we can get enough players/teams we will start the new groups as quickly as possible.

June Appointments for the Football NSW Futsal Winter State League have been published on the NSWFRA web site. After successful running over the first few rounds, young and upcoming referees are continuing to gain valuable experience with the help of their more experienced counterparts.

Select Group referees Darius Turner and Andrew Best will steer the ship on the resumption after the public holiday working with Development group referees Grant South and Kelly Jones. Along with Kelly, Paul Jones and Brendan Wirz will also make their first appearances of the year at this round.

Gavin Lee and Cameron Bruce take the lead on June 22nd joined by the experienced duo of Gail Willcocks and Kevin Taylor. Young guns Ashley Medway and Daniel Luttringer will push their claims for more regular senior appointments in the summer filling the last two spots on the team. Other than Lee, all referees on the round will be officiating in the competition for the first time this season.

The final round of June has FIFA Referee Ryan Shepheard in action again, holding court with the Select group’s Peter Wilson-Mosey. Bruce Bailey and Greg Webster provide experienced back up while Ross Fazzalaro and Tony Thompson will round out the group.

The Winter Super League gives referees the opportunity to continue to officiate on a high quality competition while giving excellent development opportunities to those referees hoping to hone their skills in the lead up to the Football NSW State Futsal Leagues which return in a few months.

All members are encouraged to enter their July availabilty so that appointments can be made as soon as possible.

Round 13 Results
• Albert Park FC 3 FC Essendon 1
• McLeod FC 7 FC Prahran 11
• FC Melbourne 5 Metropolitan FC 5
• Ashburton FC 5 Nth Melbourne FC 13
• Melbourne Uni FC 3 Fitzroy FC 12
• FC Carlton 3 Pascoe Vale FC 4

Round 14 Clashes Wed June 17
• McLeod FC v Pascoe Vale FC KO 6:30
• FC Melbourne v FC Prahran KO 7:15
• Melbourne Uni FC v Metropolitan FC KO 8:00
• Fitzroy FC v FC Essendon KO 8:45
• Ashburton FC v FC Carlton KO 9:30
• Albert Park FC v Nth Melbourne FC 10:15

Top Goal Scorers
• James Blackburn Fitzroy FC 42
• Alexander Stevanovic FC Essendon 37
• Maxim Avram FC Prahran 35
• Hooman Shekari FC Carlton 34
• Chris Vithoukas Fitzroy FC 24

The Cairns Predators Mens and Ladies Futsal teams have taken out the Northern State Futsal league Championship with wins over Mackay Monarchs and the Townsville Thunder.

The final round of the NSFL was held in Townsville on the weekend and it saw the Cairns Predators Mens hold onto a narrow lead over the Townsville Thunder with convincing wins over Mackay and 2 draws with Townsville, the Cairns Predators had to play the final day without key striker Nick Pinfield whom was injured in the second game on Saturday, but disspit this the Predators lifted to hold onto their one point lead over the raining Champions Townsville Thunder.

This was the second year for the NSFL in the Mens division and the first for the Ladies and Youth divisions, the Predator Ladies team had very convincing wins over Mackay and Townsville to take the Trophy home, the Ladies played exceptionally well with key players Teagan Walker and Joe Whatley to strong against the opposition and scoring frequently to put the Predators in a comfortable position to take the title.

In the youth division the Cairns Predators finished second after a very hard fort draw with overall winners Townsville Thunder, the youth had a chance to hold onto a narrow lead in the game, but Townsville fought hard and scored the equaliser in the final minute from a mistake in defence to finish at 4 all to give Townsville the Title.

It was good to see a very high standard of Futsal being played over the long weekend across all three divisions, all teams showed their level of commitment and sportsmanship with great games being played all weekend.

From the NSFL players have been selected for a Mens and Ladies Northern Stingrays team to compete in Christchurch New Zealand in August, in an International Futsal tournament were teams from Brisbane, NSW, Victoria and NZ will compete, this will be a great opportunity for the players selected as players will be looked at from this for an Australian Vikings Futsal team to compete next year in Europe and South America. this will also give the Stingrays the opportunity to see what the standard is like before next years National Futsal Championships were the Stingrays will compete against some of the same teams.

Players selected for the Northern Stingrays are:

MENS
Josh DeNittis (Cairns)
Peter Lansano (Cairns)
Nick Pinfield (Cairns)
Kieran Pates (Cairns)
Enver Salita (Cairns)
Giuseppe Minoya (Cairns)
Kieta Tamura (Cairns)
John Pearse (Mackay)
Paolo Vedalago (Townsville)
Nathan Ferguson (Townsville)
Gary Robison (Townsville)
James Vedalago (Townsville)
Steff Neofitos (Townsville)

LADIES
Teagan Walker (Cairns)
Joanna Ward (Cairns)
Josephine Whatley (Cairns)
Kristen Fixter (Cairns)
Jessica Cardillo (Mackay)
Alix Ryman (Mackay)
Debbie Burston (Mackay)
Tammy Lawrie (Mackay)
Shannon Willet (Mackay)
Andria Sorbello (Townsville)
Nell Campbell (Townsville)

Representing one’s state is a dream of many youngsters, and four junior Gladstone futsal players get the chance at the tender age of nine.

Tre McKenzie, Skye Alexander, Bill Cutler and Jai Thorne will travel to Sydney in January next year to contest the 2010 National Futsal Club Championships.

The four Gladstone juniors will represent Queensland Country in the eight-day competition.

It is a big achievement for the four juniors who are currently on a break from their futsal season.

They are keeping up their skills, playing junior football for their respective clubs.

They were selected to attend the National Club championships after playing at the Vikings Pacific Regional Titles at the Gold Coast over the Easter weekend.

The four youngsters are hoping to secure sponsorship to help them reach Sydney.

Those interested in doing so can contact Nyree Maloney (mother of Bill) on 0412 462 108.

Futsal is a five-a-side game similar to football played on a field the size of a basketball court.

Gladstone has had several successful players in the past who have travelled on overseas tours.

There are two seasons played each year in the Gladstone region, including a summer season (September-April) and a winter season (May-August).

The preliminary squad for the Australian Men’s Beach Soccer team gathered together for the first time over the June long weekend, with coach Airton Andrioli pleasantly surprised with what he saw.

Andrioli, a Football Development Officer with Football Federation South Australia, brought together a group of 17 players, which will be narrowed down to 14 for a second camp in August.

This will be further narrowed down to 12 players for the AFC Beach Soccer Championship to be held in early September and acts a qualifying tournament for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which will be held in Dubai in November 2009.

The 17 players included five players that played in the 2005 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup – Steve Karavatakis, George Souris, Jim Bakis, Andrew Mailer, Stacey Alogdellis.

“The camp in Sydney proved to be very positive,” said Andrioli. “We had all players selected from the state trials coming together for the first time.”

“The players responded professionally, and worked very hard, showing great commitment as they pushed for selection in the final squad.”

While many of players are fairly adept at playing on the sand, most are novices to the sport of the Beach Football at a competitive level with no real competition structure existing in Australia.

“The weekend was pretty intense and consisted of four practical sessions on the beach and two video analysis sessions.”

“We used video analysis to clarify some of the questions the players had in regards to the rules and tactics of beach football, while the training sessions tested players’ physical and mental strength as well as their skills and ability to adapt to the conditions of the game.

“Picking a final squad will be a tough decision.”

Andrioli will name 14 players in the next couple of weeks, for the final camp in August in preparation for the AFC tournament.

The 17 players that came into camp were: Steve Karavatakis, Jim Bakis, George Souris, Andrew Mailer, Danny Martinez, Scott MacNicol, Jamie Johnson, Josh Da Palma, Jonathon Cook, Stacy Alogdellis, Ronaldo Lima, Peter Crevani, Joel Allwright, Michael Matricciani, Mason Palmieri, Khalil Popal, Ivo De Jesus.

Professional futsal is still a young game compared to its eleven-a-side parent but the tactics are evolving all the time.

It’s about Speed, Fast Moves, Tactics, Formations and Defending.

SPEED

Speed is a theme in futsal, as with such a small pitch, no one has long to dwell on the ball.

Equally players have to move fast if they are to find space to receive passes, not least as the ball tends to stay on the ground.

Futsal is widely played in Brazil by children before they concentrate on football, and the likes of Ronaldinho and Deco attribute much of their world-class technique to their grounding in the small-sided game.

“I play futsal and it has helped a lot,” Deco told Uefa.com recently.

“I played from the age of nine until I was 16-years-old when I had to stop to go on with my football career. It improves my speed and dribbling skills.”

FAST MOVES

Goals generally come from swift moves, often involving lightning exchanges of passes, as the goal is small and a defence given time to regroup at the top level will usually be able to keep opponents at bay.

The majority of goals at the very highest level are scored inside the area.

Fouls can also be costly because of the danger of giving away a free-kick without the protection of a wall for offending more than five times in a half.

TACTICS

Coaches are able to make as many substitutions as they like, with higher-tempo teams, like Russian sides, tending to swap players more, even all four outfielders at once.

Teams may utilise a single tactical system, be it a pressing game or a more defensive counterattacking strategy, but the astute use of player rotation can allow a coach several formations depending on the match.

There is also the traditional ending to a tight game when a coach whose team is losing narrowly can take off his goalkeeper and use a fifth outfield player.

FORMATIONS

Formations are more fluid than in football, especially with the success in recent years of the ‘4-0′ system which has grown in popularity due to its use by the exceptional Spanish national side.

Also widely used is the 3-1, which relies on a ‘pivot’ forward to hold the ball after being cleared by the defence, 2-2 – where the players stay close together at all times – or the winger-utilising 1-2-1.

It is a boon for teams to be able to switch to several different formations in varying match situations.

DEFENDING

Over the last few years a zonal marking system has been superseded by man-to-man tactics, which was applauded by FIFA’s technical experts in 2004 as a more dynamic ploy.

As in most sports, though, the most important factor is the individual technique and ability of players, hence the popularity of Brazilians in the European leagues.

Futsal is also being promoted in nations where it has not yet taken off, such as England and France, as a useful tool for honing football skills.