Football Federation SA's state futsal teams returned from the FFA National Futsal Championships last week with their heads held high and with four AWD players invited to trial for the AWD Futsalroos National Team.
Sam Mills, Rhys Baker, Jamin Wilson-Eglinton and Xavier White will join the national squad at a camp with Rob Varela, AWD Futsalroos National coach, later this year as they prepare for the INAS Global Games held in Brisbane in October 2019.
Coach of the AWD team, Igor Negrao, has told FFSA the efforts his players have put in has now been recognised.
I am very proud and excited for the players that have been invited to trial. All the hard work that they have been doing has paid off. This proves that people with a disability can achieve great things.
I wish all four of them good luck and hopefully we have a representive from SA in the national team in Brisbane."
5 of our teams made it to the semi-final stage of the competition. U12 Red, U13 Girls, U15 Girls, U16 Boys, and our AWD side fell agonizingly short of the Grand Final stage.
However, our vision of "playing positive and proactive futsal" was on full show as 2 of our players took home the top goalscorer award in their respective age groups.
Luka Dobrovolski for the U12 boys scored an incredible 20 goals while Abou Keita for the U16 Boys slotted home 8 goals for his side.
119 players and 27 staff descended on Sydney for the week, our largest contingent to represent South Australia at the Championships.
Regional SA was represented well at the championships too. Marie Irrgang (U12 Boys Blue Team Manager - Jamestown), Ben Howard (U12 Boys Blue Coach – Pt. Pirie), Sam Mills (AWD Player – Mt. Gambier), Ailin Marshall (U13 Girls – Yorke Peninsula) and Jordan Velthuizen-Kuchel (U16 Boys Player - Whyalla) traveled far and wide to represent the state.
Coach Education Manager Cristiano Dos Santos was proud of the teams and is looking forward to the future of Futsal in SA.
FFSA went to the FFA National Futsal Championships with a very high attacking and high pressure approached futsal this year.
I am very proud to see how the coaches and players responded to the new futsal approach we had this tournament.
As part of the education for the coaches and players, it is very important that the coaches continue their futsal development through workshops and courses.
I would like to thank all the coaches, players and officials who have done their best at the Nationals.
Also, I'd like thank all the coaches who have put into practice the FFSA vision and philosophy on how to play Futsal."
Football Federation SA would like to congratulate the following officials as they represented our state for the first time.
Coaches:
- Neil Styles - U13 Boys Red
- Michael Gallagher - U13 Boys Blue
- Ben Howard - U12 Boys Blue
Team Managers
- Isabella Ricciardi - U13 Boys Blue
- Mitchell Higgins - U14 Boys Red
- Alexia Scalzi - U13 Girls
- Amanda Warren - AWD
New Trainer
- Thiago dos Santos Pinheiro
For a full report on the whole tournament, head on over to http://nationalfutsalchampionships.com.au/