Courtesy: The Westerner


Mates on the ball

Thursday, 17 December 2009

Friendships will be cast aside – for 40 minutes at least – when a trio of local football aces take to the futsal field in Sydney next month.


Ocean View’s Callum Tretter will square off against mates Richard Vaughan and Oliver Bailye in the Under-15 division of the futsal national championships.


While the trio, all 15, are longtime teammates playing outdoor soccer for the Samford Rangers club, they will be on opposite sides of the field in Sydney with Queensland sending two teams south for a two-pronged maroon assault.


Tretter will represent Queensland City while Vaughan, from Samford Village, and Bailye, from Yugar, will line up for the Queensland Metro side at their first national championships, which start on 12 January.


While the two Queensland teams have been training together in the lead-up to the national titles, Bailye expects the pleasantries to cease when the whistle blows on kick-off for the City versus Metro clash.


“I have a feeling it won’t be that friendly once we get there (to Sydney),” Bailye said.


“We’re all staying in the one lodge but when we get out on the field I doubt it will be a friendly match. I think everyone will bring all stops out to try and beat each other.


“There’s a bit of nervousness representing your state and all eyes are on you to try and do well in the competition.


“I’ll just give it my best shot and train hard until then to try and give myself the best chance of doing well in the competition.”


Vaughan, who plays club futsal at Brendale alongside Tretter, is also looking forward to the challenge of his first time out playing for Queensland.


“It’s going to be really hard and challenging, but a good experience,” Vaughan said. “It will be good playing Cal and hopefully we’ll win.”


Tretter, who noted that playing mates “is good fun because you can always have a laugh”, said his Queensland City team was a good shot at winning the national title after finishing runner-up last summer.


“Last year we played Victoria in the final but lost, but this year we’ve got a pretty good side and we’ve got a good chance,” he said.


“We’re pretty strong but Victoria are pretty good too, and it’s good playing New South Wales – it’s always a bit different as all the boys are fired up.”


Tretter said futsal was a sport that rewarded speed, agility and skill.


“You have to have good touch because there’s not much space and it’s really quick, and when you get the ball straight away you have a player on you,” the striker said.


“In futsal you kind of work on the whole court and don’t really have positions … but I definitely want to play up forward and score goals.”


Cayden Liessi (Joyner), Jonathan Hawthorne (Warner), Georgina Bridges (Ferny Hills), Aiden Hagley (Albany Creek) and Blair Ferguson (Arana Hills) will also play at the national titles against teams from NSW, Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and New Zealand.







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com