THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF QUEENSLAND FUTSAL

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****MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS****



SINGAPORE TIGER FIVES

For those wishing to watch some of the Singapore Tiger Fives Futsal Tournament, SBS will be televising the first of a series of games next Saturday(29th) at 5.00 pm. I believe it is the first in a series. Hopefully Australia versus Italy is not the first game.

BOB RASO LEAVES NSW FUTSAL

In what is really a great loss for the sport, Bob Raso has left NSW Futsal having his last day on Friday.
Bob was one of the true pioneers of the sport being involved at both club level and as an employee for the last 15 years. He has toured overseas with many representative sides and has coached NSW state sides for as long as I can remember. His leaving NSW Futsal will be a great loss for them as not only did he work in Futsal for a proffession but it was his passion and hobby, often putting in 80 hour or more weeks.
Bob has returned to the food wholesaling industry he worked in years ago.

Whenever there were interstate rivalries at nationals, or someone needed a hand, Bob would be first there to negiotate a win/win solution or pitch in and help.

Thankfully Bob is staying involved in the sport in a soon to be announced volunteer role, so we in Queensland are certainly happy to be keeping in contact.

To Bob , Chin up and remember...what goes round comes round.


WEBSITE FORUM

Well we've had to do it again and turn the forum off. We turned it on again in October but unfortunately people have again started to misuse it. I hope people realise that children read our website and I cannot be sitting up all night deleting foul language off the site.
NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS...ISPORT are setting up a new forum for us where people must register to write in ( similar to FUTSAL ENGLISH site), thus our little gremlins who won't leave their names but want to abuse everybody and everything under the sun will now be identifiable.

NEW CHANGES TO WEBSITE

Other changes are also taking place on the website.From 1st February we will have an online registration system for all our tournaments and competitions, thus the need to mail backwards and forwards entry forms will be removed.

STATE TEAM TRAINING

Most of the major indoor stadiums are closed this weekend and next (29/30 th) so it is very likely your team is not training. Nearly all teams are holding a two day training camp the weekend after.

OFFICE HOURS

All our offices will be closed up to Wednesday 2nd January. If you have an emergency please ring mobile 0414396211.

STATE LEAGUE FINALS WEEKEND

Reminder that the state league finals are on the weekend of the Australia Day Weekend at Logan City. It is planned that age groups will only have to play one of the days with the plan being half the age groups Saturday and half on Sunday.

QUEENSLAND FUTSAL GOLF DAY

We would like to run a Futsal Golf Day on the Australia Day Monday 28th January. Does anyone have any ideas or contacts at golf clubs ? Please write back with any ideas.Otherwise I'll have more news next week.


PROBLEMS WITH RULE CHANGES

I have had a couple of emails re rules in centres, particularly the issue of scoring from the kick off. Please note that YOU CAN SCORE DIRECT FROM A KICKOFF IN ALL COMPETITIONS EXCEPT STATE LEAGUE.
For some reason at state league in the first round, the clubs competing agreed to bring that rule in , which has caused complications for those competing in other different tournaments. Although I personally agree it is a good rule tobring in, it is also important to be consistent, so please note that for the rest of the season( till the 28th February) you can score direct from kickoff in club competitions.

REGIONAL TITLES

I received a good letter this week pointing out the cost of going to tournaments. Although our player levys are still far cheaper than most other sports, we have particularly recognised the cost of going to the regionals( at around $400 to $800) and then being picked in the state team (at around $700).
The regionals this Easter will be held in Logan City and regions will be able to organise their own transport ,accomodation and equipment. The opening ceremony will be replaced with a closing DREAMWORLD FUNDAY on the Tuesday where parents,players and coaches will be encouraged to attend for the day.
Thus the cost to teams in the south east region will be the cost of team entry ( around $40 a player) plus the team strip if they do not already own it ( around $120).The Dreamworld day will be around $35 with a return bus trip there for $20.
Although this cost saving does not encompass the Central and North regions, it is hoped that the tournament will be played in these regions in the future.
This should make the tournament far more affordable for all.
Note also that Queensland Soccer Federation have not scheduled any fixtures for Easter which will allow all our senior men to be available for the tournament. To the cynics,there are some benefits of being affiliated.



FIT FOR LIFE CENTRE

We are scheduled to move into the Townsville FIT FOR LIFE CENTRE on Monday 14th January. Hopefully the office will be fully set up by 1st February, and in mid February we are planning an open day at the centre. We hope our players will make full use of the centre and play through the winter as well as the summer season.



I hope everybody has a great Christmas.We are scheduled for 37 degrees tomorrow and 35 Christmas day with no rain, so our readers in the Northern hemisphere tucking into there hot turkey watching the snow fall, don't grumble think of us in Brisbane sweltering.


HUMOUR

I am slowly runnning out of jokes so I thought I would welcome in Christmas with a Bill Shankly story( the legendary Liverpool coach) which I think we can adapt to life.
After a loss, Shankly had a team talk on the Monday to discuss the game. After listening to his players excuses he took them out on the pitch, put a ball down and telling his players to watch carefully, kicked it around 10 mteres along the ground.
He then picked it up and held it in the air saying 'Look , its pumped up , its round, if you kick it , it moves and if you put your foot in front of it, it stops...so don't tell me anymore you got beaten by the roll of the ball !'

Or as the saying goes ' Don't tell me the problem,tell me the answer.'

MERRY XMAS TO ALL FUTSAL COMPATRIOTS AND SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.