FFA Nationals, Tasmania, Vikings, WA and NSW all covered in this edition…
Futsal Rant aims to tackle all the hot futsal issues across the country from political to just plain silly.
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Futsal Rant will follow up stories from Tasmania to Townsville and bring you as much information as possible. Futsal Rant mails to all leading Futsal websites & Football Federation Futsal departments.
Futsal Rant is a couple of weeks away from some massive revelations, with insider interviews from FFA & not-so-FFA, Vikings and just FUTSAL lovers. For now, the following hot topics will have to suffice.
There has been some big movers and shakers amongst federation boards, scrapped reviews and trashed figures that will all be floating online shortly! It should also be worth noting that nationals will now be referred to as “NSW/ACT” + 2 because that’s really what it is. With FFSA pricing out their players, there isn’t really much ‘national’ about it! As for players south of the border lucky FFV didn’t follow through with an email that circulated last week asking for $1900 from their youth and open player categories! Otherwise it would be NSW/ACT + 1, the 1 being Tasmania! Qatar doesn’t count, its great having an international team in our national tournament, but why dont we focus on our states and territories first Capital Football/FFA? Why not play for points? What competition are we going to offer Qatar? Why not put the Futsalroos in the mix?
Speaking of Tasmania Credit to FFT for organizing there first ever men’s team which participated at last year’s nationals. Looked little more then a bunch of mates who play together in a social comp but it was a start! What is FFT doing for development & this years nationals? More preparation? Futsal in Tasmania seems non-existent outside of Vikings (which are doing an excellent job by the looks of it). Dale Itchins and the crew down there, we look forward to your showing at this years nationals and hopefully greener pastures in years to come. With Corey Smith moving on from Vikings Tas to take up a playing position overseas. Will Vikings still retain their dominance there as Corey has run the show down there for some time… Football is growing and branching out in Tas, so should futsal.
Speaking of branching out, i’ve heard many a Viking claim to be completely dedicated to futsal, and if so, why are there so many tours and training camps with football clubs, not doing much better then FFA and both organizations are really holding the game to ransom at the minute.
Question, what is going on in W.A, are the Cougars the only futsal club that train and play? Football West are yet to reply to us, whether they know what Futsal is or not is another matter. We will be investigating WA Futsal further, stay tuned for more.
Saving the best for last, what is going on with the multiple organisations in NSW. With the Vikings rebadging and becoming the NSW Futsal Association (or something along those lines), what does it mean for NSW. There is a reasonable number of players coming under that association now (not by their own choice, but mainly because its their local comp). What impact is that going to have on those players? And what does FOOTBALL NSW think of this? Regardless, nothing was sweeter then Dural thumping Sydney City eagles! Thats all for now..
One more edition before Christmas, and its going to be a beauty! Until next week, Happy Futsal!
Edition 1 : “FFA Nationals”, “Football Means Futsal” and “Football Federations”
Edition 2 : “Futsal Federation Australia”, “Futsal 40 Weeks of the Year” and “Stop Clocks, Big Courts, Interchange Bibs, Skins, Balls”
Edition 3 : “South Australia”, “Vikings Futsal” and “Womens Futsal”
Edition 4 : FFA Nationals, Tasmania, Vikings, WA and NSW
Edition 5 : FFA Nationals
5 Comments
Dec 15, 2011, 11:30 pm
Firstly, I would like to say I agree with you on most issues. However I believe that the F league should become the “premier” competition in the country and one day start paying players (even if it is a minimal amount of money) to add a touch of professionalism to the game. This relates to the nationals as with the growth of the F-league, Nationals will become the second rate competition and eventually become irrelevant (for open mens anyway). Because of this I believe that it will attract more talented players outside of ACT, NSW and VIC. In saying this, its clear FFA needs to firstly take an interest in futsal and recognise its benefits, and secondly have a clear path for the sport to head down.
Dec 17, 2011, 9:24 am
The only way we can seriously start paying players is to get corporate interest , television coverage, major sponsorship, etc. There is a limit to how much individual proprietors, associations or visionaries can fork out without going broke. Why would they work so hard for no renumeration for themselves or their workers?
In fact the clubs / companies that are making serious money out of futsal are the ones that are mostly staying away from innovations like the F League.
Dec 18, 2011, 1:39 pm
Of course you need television coverage and sponsorship, but why cant the F league attract it?? We are never going to move forward if we don’t try to expand our game at the elite level. People often underestimate how much of a spectator sport futsal is, not only is it great to play it is great to watch!! I can tell you now, if the F league expanded, attracting more clubs, and more talented players, and i had the choice of watching an A-league game or an F-league game, I’d choose the F league. I’m sorry ronalso, i believe we should be trying to promote the game, not discourage its growth.
Dec 20, 2011, 6:07 pm
play in brisbane as a demo, get their futsal clubs involved! not much difference in flights between syd and bris :)
think there could be an unknown surprise waiting for the f league ;)
Jan 25, 2012, 10:58 am
The FFT state team which competed at FFA Nationals under Dale Itchins is a bunch of mates who play in local competitions together and not a selected team.