While the world deals with swine Flu a different sort of Pandemic is spreading throughout Schools in Dunedin. Futsal Fever.

Dunedin Schools Liaison Officer, Simon Mead, has been busy visiting schools and introducing them to the action packed game of Futsal.36 school teams played in the Dunedin School League in term 1 with 38 teams entering the Otago School titles held in March 09.

“School based Futsal is really taking off here in Dunedin with many schools finding that the kids crave the action pact indoor game”, expressed Mead. “Dunedin’s winter climate is perfect for Futsal during PE lessons and schools love how involved all the kids are during the sessions”.

Mead is currently visiting schools and intoducing the game and has a pick up rate of around 85% from Dunedin Schools. He uses a great mix of video imagery, Brazilian Music and skill based activities to get the kids moving.

Recently a touring Brazilian School played against Logan Park High School along with schools in Christchurch. “This is the perfect sport for Schools”, says Mead. “They can play at lunchtimes, PE sessions, inter house and in school based leagues and tournaments’.

Rivermount College ran Robina SHS to the wire in the carnival’s most important game, but Robina still triumphed to win yet another Vikings Coomera River School Futsal Cup, held at UCSC this evening, this time in the 15 Girls Division.

In an exciting end-to-end game, Robina triumphed 4-2 in a game enjoyed by the small but appreciative crowd at the venue.

For full results go to http://www.isport.com.au/futsal/qcrc/

The 2009 National School Futsal Championships.

Where: Albury/Wodonga NSW/Victoria

When: Tuesday 29th September till Thursday 1st October 2009

To be a part of this fantastic event for the following positions please contact Jade Banks on school@vikingsfutsal.com or (07) 3270 2777

- State Coach
- State Manager
- State Player
- Centre Administration
- Sports Training
- Refereeing
- Sponsorship
- Catering

Age Groups Running – Only Students currently enrolled in a Primary or secondary school are eligible.

10 Boys – Born 1999 or 2000
11 Boys – Born 1998
12 Boys – Born 1997
13 Boys – Born 1996
14 Boys – Born 1995
15 Boys – Born 1994
16 Boys – Born 1993
19 Boys – Born 1992, 1991 or 1990

11 Girls – Born 1998
12 Girls – Born 1997
13 Girls – Born 1996
14 Girls – Born 1995
15 Girls – Born 1994
16 Girls – Born 1993
19 Girls – Born 1992, 1991 or 1990

www.vikingsfutsal.com

Brazil is the home of the beautiful game and after his recent trip to that country Brandon Harvey can see why that is so.

The 17-year-old was a member of an Australian Vikings squad which travelled to South America to play Futsal against the country that has helped make the sport popular.

Brandon, a defender with Nerimbera in its local Capricornia premier team for the eleven-a-side game, has only played Futsal for a short time, taking up the sport for fitness rather than having designs on making a national squad.

“I was picked for Queensland Schools and then the Vikings,” the Rockhampton Grammar School student explained.

Squads of 15 boys and 15 girls made the journey, with the Vikings making its base at Belo Horizonte, a city of about three million inhabitants.

As with most visitors to South America, Brandon was a little surprised at the passion for football held by everyone he met.

“Even 10-year-olds had the skills and tricks,” he recalled.

The trip was not about playing games and carrying out sightseeing. Brandon said while in Belo Horizonte the squad was coached by some of Brazil’s finest Futsal coaches, men who have made that country the world leader in the sport.

While in awe of some of the skills opponents possessed, Brandon found out that the Brazilians also had a tactical awareness which made them even harder to beat.

“In the first half (of games) it was close, but in the second they pulled away,” he recalled.

“We tried to mark man-to-man, but once they worked us out they changed their plan.

“Most of the teams we played had at least one outstanding player.

With the Vikings facing tough opposition it was satisfying for the Rockhampton player to return home as his team’s leading scorer.

The squad viewed the sights including a visit to Rio and an overview of that city from Cristo Redentor, but what was his favourite memory?

“The first half of our last game; we were 1-0 down and I scored a penalty to get us back in the game,” he said with a grin.

Now Brandon hopes to combine the two sports, gaining selection for a Vikings tour of China while progressing his 11-a-side game through the Young Cougars with an eye towards the North Queensland Fury.

The official Tournament Flyer is now available here (PDF) and is also shown below.

The Registration form can be found by clicking here (PDF).

On the Easter weekend Far North Coast teams competed in the Pacific Regional Futsal titles in Brisbane. (Futsal is like soccer, but played on a hard court with a soft ball.)

The grade 16 girls team won all their pool games and made their way through the finals to the grand final. Unfortunately they lost to Brisbane South 5-2.

Pictured are (rear l-r) Shelby Parker, Hannah Sheehan, Mattisse Iliffe and Dannielle Creighton with (front l-r) Elsa Mangan, Ellie Fryer and Josie Bancroft.

The LPHS boys’ futsal teams had an exciting start to the term with the opportunity to play a Brazilian secondary school team at the end of its South Island tour.

What flair these boys had. With wonderful footwork, they beat the year 11 boys soundly 8-2, despite the home side’s valiant play.

The second game against the year 12-13 boys’ team was a different story, with the physical strength and developed futsal skills of the Logan Park boys challenging the classy Brazilians.

Caley Watson was athletic in goal, with Logan Park’s own Brazilian import, Felipi Sarabia, together with Michael Still and Billy Pullar, matching their opponents.

The close, entertaining and hard-fought match ended in a win for Logan Park High, 4-2. It was the first loss on tour for the Brazilians from Colegio Jesu, near Brasilia.

Girls’ junior and intermediate futsal at Logan Park is on a roll. Two teams competed in the junior girls Dunedin schools term 1 competition, with the year 10-11 team finishing the summer season by retaining the junior girls league title. The runner-up was the year 9 team.

The final was a real thriller, with the year 9 side determined to win. At full-time, the scores were level and the penalty shoot-out went into a second round, before year 10 goalie Gretel Mitchell scored the deciding shot.

Both LPHS girls’ teams also won their age group titles in the regional competition recently played in Dunedin, securing them a place in the champion of champions futsal school titles in Dunedin on Queens Birthday weekend.

Sunshine’s Abod Ragab thinks only of soccer and is a strong supporter of Visy Cares Hub boys soccer program, which is looking to increase its membership.

The 19-year-old, originally from Sudan, has played for almost two years as part of the program.

He said he was especially appreciative of being a member, since his mum banned him from playing soccer in the back yard.

“I can’t play in the backyard since I broke a window,” he admits.

He said he enjoyed being part of the indoor soccer program and urged others to join.

VISY Cares Hub wants to boost the numbers of its boys soccer program after the recent relocation of games from RecWest in the City of Maribyrnong to the West Sunshine Community Centre in West Sunshine.

The club used to attract about 60 boys, mainly of African descent, who lived in Braybrook, when soccer was played on a Friday night at RecWest.

But numbers had dropped dramatically when Visy Cares Hub decided to move the indoor soccer program to a Thursday night at the West Sunshine Community Centre.

General manager of Visy Cares Hub Karen Hart said she wanted to see the boys soccer program increase its numbers.

“I know there are hundreds of boys interested in playing soccer, and we’d really like to reach them.

“Soccer has really taken off in the West – particularly African kids are really interested in the sport.”

“It is a free program creating opportunity for disconnected and disadvantaged young people so that they are getting an equal chance to get involved in recreational activities that other boys are engaging with in less disadvantaged areas.”

She said participation in the soccer program also put members in touch with other Visy Cares Hub services, to assist them with issues relating to education, employment, training, health, housing and legal matters.

She said transport would be provided if boys wanted to attend the program.

“If people are finding it difficult to get there they can be driven in cars from Visy Cares Hub in Sunshine to the centre,” Ms Hart said

She said the games were relocated, as Visy Cares Hub is based in the City of Brimbank and the group wanted to operate the soccer program within municipal boundaries.

For further information, phone [Victoria] 9091 8200.

The Football NSW Futsal Winter State League kicked off Round One last night at the Sports Halls, Sydney Olympic Park. With a number of new teams entered it is shaping up to be a good competition.

The Women’s match of the round Just 4 Kicks took on Force 10. The match started slowly with both sides passing the ball around nicely.

Force 10 took the lead care of Sarah Yatim’s nice piece of individual skill gave Antoniette Oliva no chance in the Just 4 Kicks goal. Just 4 Kicks drew level when Catharine Cannuli was on hand at the back to post. Force 10 got back into the lead Dominique Caridad, Oliva was left stranded by her defense and Caridad finished nicely. Just 4 Kicks again drew level care of Cannuli, the match was in the balance with both team pushing for the winner. Force 10 thought they had won the match when Yatim was left unmarked in the “D” and slotted the ball past Oliva. However there was enough time for Cannuli again to be the savior for her team when her effort gave Elise O’Kelly now chance in the Force 10 goal.

Match Stats :
Just 4 Kicks 3 (Catherine Cannuli 11′, 23′ 32) drew with Force 10 3 (Sarah Yatim 7′, 28′, Dominique Caridad 19′)

Teams:
Just 4 Kicks: 1. A. Oliva, 11. C. Cannuli, 9. A. Cergovski, 7. T. Bartlett, 8. B. Simsing, 23. E. Rodopoulos
Force 10: 1. E. O’Kelly, 7. M. McCauley, 11. S. Yatim, 10. D. Caridad, 3. C. Tyson, 8. J. Saliba

Other Women’s results for round one…

Hachies 2 (N. Hamson 12′, R. Fleming 20′) def. Sydney City Quake 0
Sienna 3 (M. Tuema 2′, I. Breukelaar 25′ 29′) def. Botany Bay Pirates 1 (R. Browning 25′)
V.I.M 4 (R. Tomkins 4′ J. Kingsley 7′, 24′, N. LoGiudice 28) def. Wadey’s Army 1 (A. Hulme 12′)

In the Men’s action match of the round saw Riff Raff taking on Maccabi Maulers. This was an even contest with both sides showing moments of both great team play and individual magic.

Riff Raff took the lead when Ben Lam placed his shot past Marco Pin in the Maccabi goal. Maccabi could have gone 2-nil down if it hadn’t been for a nice save by Pin from a Shane Ardle effort. Maccabi started to move the ball around the court and equalized when Gareth Naar found himself unmarked at the back post and slotted into a empty net. The goal inspired Maccabi and they created a number of chances with Bojan Radmilo working overtime in the Riff Raff goal. With all the pressure Maccabi took the lead when Antony Tow guided the ball past Radmilo. Maccabi could have extended the lead with a well worked free kick that found Naar free on the edge of the “D” however he couldn’t keep he shot low enough to trouble Radmilo. Riff Raff found a late equalizer when Shane Ardle slotted the ball past Pin to give Riff Raff a share of the spoils.

Match Stats :
Riff Raff 2 (Ben Lam 12′, Shane Ardle 33′) drew with Maccabi Maulers 2 (Gareth Narr 22′, Antony Tow 29′)

Teams:
Riff Raff: 1. B. Radmilo, 6. G. Ljuboja. 8. B. Lam. 5. S. Ardle. 14. T. Pannowitz, 9. M. Ghobrial, 10. R. Sisusn
Maccabi Maulers: GK. M. Pin, 1. Dale Levin, 3. G. Naar, 8. S. Ozana, 2. J. Mundell, 12. S. Kettler, 11. A. Tow, 7. D. Pozniak, 10. A. Fridurar. 9. L. Lewis, 4. P. Meltz, 5. S. Benda

Other Men’s results for round one

Sydney Tigers 5 (P. Corso 16′, D. Petralito 17′, 18′, 33′, R. Meluno 19′) def. Barcelona 3 (J. Foti 4′, G. LanLanca 14′, J. Albayiati 25′)
Botany Bay Pirates 6 (U. Kayex 4′, 8′, R. Texeira 13′, C. Bdlo 14′, A. Kovacevic 23′, 35′) def. Futsal4All Phoenix 5 (J. Boutkabout 16′ 34′, R. De Silva 27′, A. Ratnomohan 32′, Y. Namkung 37′)
Enfield 5 (I. Kerem 5′, 22′, 31′, M. Davison 6′, R Foti 24′) def. Northern Tigers 2 (A. Smajovic 20′, S. Doran 21′)
Dural Warriors 3 (Own Goal 4′, E. Rumora 27′ 31′) def. Quake Youth 2 (E. Harihru 23′ 34′)

The first ever Football Queensland FFA approved level one Futsal coaching course will be held on the Sunshine Coast in June 2009. Hosted by Sunshine Coast Futsal Association it will be a great opportunity for coaches to be properly accredited.

Futsal level one coaching course is designed to further enhance the knowledge and skills of current Futsal coaches. It is a formal coaching accreditation course as recognised by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Football Federation of Australia (FFA). The futsal level one course is comprised of two main areas of learning, the General Principles of Coaching and the Sports specific of Coaching Futsal. The General principles is common to all sports in Australia and covers the details of roles and responsibilities of a coach and the duty of care that is required to be a coach. The prerequisites for the course are that you have done an introduction to futsal course or you have some previous experience coaching Futsal.

Candidates for the course must be a minimum age of 16 years. Level One coaches will be able to :

1. Write a season plan for their team outlining appropriate skill learning, strategy and fitness development as they relate to the growth and development stage of their players.
2. Teach the correct basic skills and tactics of Futsal and ensure optimal learning for each player.
3. Apply the rules of the sport to training sessions.

Date: Saturday 6 June 2009 and/or Sunday 7 June 2009. Course runs from 9:00am to 5:00pm
Location: University of the Sunshine Coast Sports Stadium, Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs
Cost: $90
Instructor: Rob Varela, Football NSW Futsal Development Officer
Info: Minimum age of 16 Years

APPLICATIONS CLOSE 1st June 2009

All candidates are reminded to bring suitable attire to be actively involved in practical sessions including suitable footwear (Non marking soles), shinguards, writing materials and a drink bottle.

Click here to register for the Saturday course (June 6 2009)
Click here to register for the Sunday course (June 7 2009)