OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF QUEENSLAND FUTSAL ASSOCIATION

(back copies available on the website below)

WEBSITE www.qldfutsal.com.au

ON LINE FUTSAL SHOP www.dalponte.org.au

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AFFILIATE AND MEMBER OF SOCCER QUEENSLAND.

AND

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This newsletter is dedicated to two people.

First, to Paul Nigalis, a long time supporter of Futsal and soccer in Bundaberg who sadly passed away two weeks ago after a long illness. Condolences to Glenda and family.

Second, to Jackson Louis Burley, born 5th June 2004, a son to Christopher and first grandchild to Margaret. Captain Dal Ponte Vikings 2028!!!!

STOP PRESS!!! STOP PRESS!!!! STOP PRESS!!!!!

END OF FINANCIAL YEAR SALE AT ACACIA RIDGE

(SEE BELOW)

INTERNATIONAL NEWS


OCEANIA PLAYOFFS ON TRACK

Oceania Media Release

Six teams confirmed for OFC World Futsal Qualifiers

OFC, Auckland 16 June 2004: The Oceania Football Confederation has confirmed six entries for the 2004 OFC Futsal World Qualifying Tournament in Canberra, Australia next month.

The hosts will be joined by trans-tasman rival New Zealand and island
nations Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to find the sole OFC
representative to the FIFA Futsal World Championship in Chinese/Taipei on 21 November - 5 December 2004.

The dates for this tournament have been rescheduled to 24-29 July 2004. The OFC is currently working together with the Australian Soccer Association on a match schedule, which will be finalised before the end of the month. The match venue has been confirmed as the Arena Complex located at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

Five of the six competing countries have previously competed in OFC Futsal Qualifiers. It will be an historic occasion for the Solomon Islands who will be entering their first OFC Futsal qualifying tournament. Futsal (indoor 5-a-side soccer) is still relatively new in the Solomons but if the success of their junior boy's teams at the past two Australian National Championships is anything to go by, the transition should not be too difficult for the skilful Melanesians.

The previous Oceania World Futsal Qualifiers were held five years ago in Port Vila, Vanuatu. On that occasion, Australia won through to the 2000 FIFA Futsal World Championship in Guatemala. Australia also represented the OFC at the 1992 and 1996 World Champs.

According to acting OFC General Secretary, Tai Nicholas, the commitment of six teams is a positive sign for the development of Futsal in Oceania.

"We are pleased with the interest shown in entering this tournament, and particularly with the entry of the Solomon Islands who will make their debut in international futsal," said Mr. Nicholas.

"The OFC has expanded its ongoing commitment to developing futsal and this year we have initiated a scheme to provide technical support for those OFC national associations that require assistance."


AUSTRALIAN MEN’S SQUAD FOR PLAYOFFS NAMED

ASA Media Release
Friday 18 June 2004

Australian Futsal squad for World Championship qualifiers announced

The Australian Futsal (indoor) squad for next month's Oceania Futsal World Championship qualifying tournament in Canberra has been announced. Australian coach Scott Gilligan has named a 12-man squad for the tournament, which will be held between July 25-29 at the Arena Complex at the Australian Institute of Sport.

The squad is:

Martin Calvert (Qld), Brett Hewit (NSW), Simon Keith (NSW), Angelo Konstantinou (ACT), Scott Manson (ACT), Danny Ngalufe (Qld), Andrew Nolan (NSW), Gavin O'Brien (NSW), Damian Pilat (Qld), Elia Salloum (ACT), Ben Singleton (NSW), Lachlan Wright (NSW)

The squad features four players who represented Australia at the 2000 FIFA Futsal World Championship in Guatemala - Hewit, Keith, O'Brien and Salloum. Not considered for selection due to injury or unavailability were Paul Lombardo, Danny Macor, Matt Whyte and Elliot Zwangobani.

Australia is one of only five nations to appear at all four FIFA Futsal World Championships since the first tournament was held in 1989.


REPORTS ON THE OCEANIA PLAYOFFS

I will be at the Oceania playoffs as Head of Delegation of the Australian team, and will nightly put a report up on our website www.qldfutsal.com.au for those interested. However I’m sure Scotty Kitson will also be forwarding reports to Futsal-english and Futsal Planet sites.

The team to watch besides regular powers Australia and New Zealand will be Vanuatu. Carlos has prepared them well since 2000, and even in the qualifying final that year Australia only won 3-1.


VIKINGS OFF TO PORTUGAL

The Dal Ponte Vikings Men’s Team last month won the Australian series of the World Hyundai Five A Side championships, and thus qualified to attend the finals in Portugal during the European Soccer Championships. A party of eight people…Gui Costa (player/coach), Luke Haydon, David Fischer, Jovan Gacesa, Damian Pilat, Danny Nguluafe, Nic Papadatos and Stuart Baker (manager) head off next Sunday for Lisbon returning a week later. Besides competing against 45 other nations qualifiers they will also be guests at two semi finals of the Euro Soccer Tournament and be given a tour of the nation.

Next Saturday 26th June from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm, the boys will be having their last training session at Acacia Ridge Centre before heading off the next day. Supporters and spectators are asked and welcomed to come down and watch and wish the players well.


VODAPHONE FIVE A SIDE TOURNAMENT

The Vikings have also entered a team in the Queensland finals of the Vodaphone 5 a side. The champion side goes to Sydney for the finals and the winner of that heads to the UK for the World finals at the end of the year. Unfortunately the Queensland final’s day is the same day as when the Vikings come home from Portugal so most of those players will not be playing.


NIKE ONE ON ONE SOCCER TOURNAMENT

In another major coup for the Vikings, Nike have approached us to allow our National team player and Cleveland High schoolboy Danny Ngulaufe to play in their national under 18 one on one soccer tournament. The tournament will be played in one night (July 6th) on a knockout basis, and Nike is covering all expenses of transport and accommodation.

Danny will be the only representative from Queensland, and the competition is similar to that seen in the Nike advertisement on television where two players try to score against each other in a cage.

The champion of this tournament will then travel to England for the World Finals. We wish Danny well.


WORLD CUP QUALIFYING COMPETITIONS

Over the next few months World Cup Qualifying tournaments will be held throughout the World to determine who plays at the Futsal World Cup. You can get daily updates at www.futsalplanet.com but in the next newsletter I’ll put together a list of who has qualified. In Asia Iran, Thailand and Japan have already qualified. Iran is turning into a powerhouse of Futsal at the moment and a good test for them will be this weekend when they play Brazil in a friendly in Fortaleza, Brazil.


OVERSEAS FUTSAL TOURS COMING UP

Ecuador /Chile -- 12th July to 30th July 2004

Japan -- 25th July to 4th August 2004

England -- 4th October to 23rd October 2004

Brazil -- 19th November to 8th December 2004

New Zealand -- 26th November to 8th December 2004

New Zealand -- 5th February to 18th February 2005



NATIONAL NEWS


NATIONAL SCHOOL TITLES

A reminder that that the National School Interstate series is being held in Brisbane from Monday the 27th September to Wednesday 29th September. At this stage teams from Victoria, ACT, NSW and Queensland are confirmed as attending.

Thursday 30th September and Friday 1st will also see the National Individual School Titles also in Brisbane. If your school is interested in attending please email Nicola Zammit on n.zammit@qldfutsal.com.au


PAN PACIFIC MASTERS

We are again running the Pan Pacific Masters at the Gold Coast in November. Two years ago over 10,000 athletes converged on the coast to compete in 40 sports and numbers will certainly increase again. The age groups for Futsal are over 30 and over 40 for Men, Women and Mixed a total of 6 competitions and you can compete in more than one. For more details email Nicola on n.zammit@qldfutsal.com.au or go to the website www.panpacmasters.com


STATE NEWS


POSTERS FOR SALE

Over the last year we have been asked by people visiting the Acacia Ridge Centre if the framed posters are for sale. Previously they haven’t, however now all posters are and we have purchased a number of others.

As an added extra, with the Euro’s being played this week, we have a number of posters of players and teams form the tournament.


DAL PONTE VIKINGS TRAINING SCHOOLS

Over the last two weeks we have held signon’s for our junior Viking’s training schools, and at present across the 4 centres we have signed over 60 children.

The concept of the school is to give to give some of our younger potential Vikings from 6 years to 14 years, the chance to receive some quality coaching before the summer season starts. The schools are being run by our Dal Ponte Vikings players under instruction from our resident Brazilian coach Gui Costa.

The schools will run for the eight weeks of school third term as a once a week 1 ½ hour session. Age groups are Under 8 years, under 10 years, under 12 years and under 14 girls and the centres holding the schools are Centenary, Acacia Ridge, Ennogerra and Wynnum.

Cost is $60 per player for the eight weeks and includes a Vikings School T-Shirt. We still have some vacancies for the schools, so if you haven’t already enrolled contact Jodie Hammond on j.hammond@qldfutsal.com.au or 38752600.


ACACIA RIDGE ONE DAY CHALLENGES

A series of one day tournaments will be held at ACACIA RIDGE centre. The first one the “Across the River Challenge” was played four weeks ago and won by MOTTA from Friday night competition. Tomorrow we see the “Presidents Birthday Cup” with 16 teams entering from Acacia Ridge, Logan and Wynnum Clubs.

On Sunday 25 th July we will see the “Winter Cup” and then on Wednesday 11th August the first mixed tournament the “Exhibition Cup” (played on the exhibition holiday).

Following tournaments will be played on Sunday’s 15th August and 12th September. They are open to any team registered at any of our centres. You are guaranteed four games and there is an ‘A’ and ‘B’ grade each time. Cost per team is $95.

To get your entry in for any of these contact Jade Banks on j.banks@qldfutsal.com.au or 38752600.


END OF FINANCIAL YEAR SALE

Well everybody is having an end of financial year sale so for the next week at Acacia Ridge State Office, starting this Monday and finishing Sunday 27th June at 5.00 pm we will be doing the same.

There are a variety of specials on shoes, balls, replica strips, etc so come along for a look. Remember competition is on every night during the week so we are open 8.30 am to 10.30 pm Monday to Friday and 8.30 am to 5.00 pm Saturday And Sunday.

If you want some info on a particular item email Margaret Burley on m.burley@qldfutsal.com.au or 0414396211.


JUNIOR CLUB DIRECTOR OF COACHING APPOINTED

To assist Gui with the coaching of junior state teams, Marty Calvert has been appointed part-time junior director of coaching. Marty will coordinate and supervise the coaching of all state club teams up to 15 years, while Gui will continue to look after those 16 years up.

Marty has been involved with the sport since the age of 8, and was a member of the 1996 World Cup team to Spain and is in the squad for the Oceania in four weeks. He is also a squad member of the Dal Ponte Vikings and is coach of the Vikings Women’s team.

He was a member of the very first Centre of Excellence squad to Brazil in 1994, which I was lucky enough to be Head of Delegation of, and two months later represented his country at the famous ‘Mundialito’.

We will be concentrating on coaching the state school teams first, so Marty may not be contacting coaches till late August.


NEW AGE GROUP FOR REGIONALS

In the feedback from the Regional Titles we have decided to bring in one new age group for next year’s tournament, Over 50’s. It was noticeable the number of Over 50’s we had playing, and so next year there will be over 30 men, over 40 men, over 50 men and over 30 women. Start organizing your team now!

SUNSHINE COAST WINTER CUP

Warm up this winter !!! The annual Sunshine Coast Winter Cup will be played at Caloundra Indoor Stadium, North Street Golden Beach on Sunday 8th August.

It will run from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm and will be for the following age groups, Men's Open, Women's Open, 11 boys, 13 boys and 15 boys.
Each game will be 2 x 13 minute halves with a minimum of 4 games.
Entry fee is $140 per team and entries close 30th June. For further details contact Alec Holman on sunnycoastfutsal@hotmail.com or 54791547. Entries will only be accepted when fee is paid.


STAFF CHANGES

Since my last newsletter we have had a couple of changes in the organization. Richard Littler has left us and moved back to the disability care world where he had previously worked. We all wish Rich well there.

Rachel Hume is presently completing a Bachelor of Leisure Studies and will be working with us in the competition management area. Rachel has a good sport pedigree being an ex member of the QAS women’s soccer programme and premier league and Queensland representative soccer player. She is presently also trialling for the Dal Ponte Vikings.

Ian Bentall will be taking on the role of Gold Coast Regional Administrator. Ian has been working parttime for us as education officer and has a strong Futsal background. He was manager of the 1996 men’s World Cup Squad and coached and administered Futsal for many years in Sydney.

Some other major changes will be occurring over the next 6 weeks and I’ll give details in the next newsletter.


WELCOME TO NEW CLUBS

Two new clubs have affiliated in the last two months. First Northern Stars on the Gold Coast and second Gove Club in the Northern Territory. Gove have affiliated with us with the approval of Northern Territory Soccer as they do not have a Futsal body at present.

Northern Stars will play out of a new indoor stadium to be built next to their soccer club.


QUEENSLAND FUTSAL SIGN NEW LEASE ON ACACIA RIDGE

Queensland Futsal has just signed a new lease on Acacia Ridge Centre. The Brisbane City Council has been happy with our presence at the centre and is keen for us to stay.

Those visiting will notice a long of work being done on the centre, including opening up and clearing the entrance, removal of the ‘hill’ in the waterpark, removal of the beach volleyball courts and grassing over and a new insulant ceiling which will lower the temperature in the building 5 degrees.

Other options such as gymnasium and outdoor training courts are also being looked at.


QUEENSLAND FUTSAL NEGOTIATING WITH FIVE MORE CENTRES

Talking of centres we are happy to announce we are presently negotiating with five other centres to take out leases on them. If all are successful we will soon have a number of regional headquarters across the state to go with the three we already have.


WHATS COMING UP-DATES TO REMEMBER

Start of Junior Vikings Schools -- 12th July -- Various

Gold Coast Cup -- 2nd August -- Gold Coast

Far West School Titles -- 9th to 11th August -- Roma

Redlands Cup -- 4th September -- Redlands

National Interstate School Titles -- 27th to 29th September -- Brisbane

National Individual School Titles -- 30th September to 1st Oct -- Brisbane


AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

With the EUROS starting this week, we are off course getting the usual madness from the commercial and medical world. Here a few gems found, courtesy of Al Mival from our local paper the Sunday Mail.

1. Being an English soccer fan is clearly bad for your health. On the eve of Euro 2004, physiotherapists have issued a guide on how to avoid injuries while watching matches on TV.

Fans are warned not to lunge forward from a sitting position or slouch on a sofa and to relax if a game goes to a penalty shootout

“ By taking note of how to safely celebrate a goal, remonstrate with the ref and survive a penalty shootout, fans should make it all the way to the final unscathed,” one of the guide’s authors said.


2. England soccer supporters have been told to smile when they cheer on their team during EURO 2004 or risk damaging their vocal chords. The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists reported that after the 2002 World Cup much yelling, singing and screaming had left many young fans with voice problems.

The college’s studies show that people suffered less if they were relaxed and happy when they yelled during a game. Considering the way England has played in recent times, there could soon be a spate of sore throats about to hit the country.

3. A German Electronics chain has offered fans a special TV deal. Buy a TV from them now and if Germany wins the EUROS, you will get your money back. The stores should be safe, as according to a magazine survey only 24 % of Germans think they can win. After England’s result this morning I don’t think the sales pitch would work in England either.


JOKE ONE

Dave and Charlie are the best of mates and have been playing in the over 50’s league at Acacia Ridge for years together. On top of playing they also have the unfortunate distinction of being the centre judiciary, handing out the punishments for unruly behavior.

One Thursday night Charlie gets sent off for swearing at the ref, and Dave going to his defence, gives the ref a mouthful as well and is also sent off. Judiciary hearing night is Mondays and both the boys duly turn up for their hearing. Dave says to Charlie ‘ As we are the only judiciary members, I’ll hear your case first, give you your sentence, and then you hear mine. ‘

“ Agreed “says Charlie.

Dave takes the bench and hears the charges of swearing at the referee. “ How do you plead? “ asks Dave
“ Guilty” says Charlie
“ I hereby give you one weeks suspension from all games. “
Charlie then takes the bench for Dave’s case. After hearing the charges he asks Dave “ How do you plead?”
“Guilty” says Dave.
“Fine, I hereby give you five weeks suspension from all games. “ says Charlie.
“ Hang on a minute, “ says Dave jumping up “ but I only gave you one week!”
“ Your right” says Charlie “ but this is the second case of swearing this judiciary has heard tonight, and its time we made an example of someone to stamp out this behaviour!”


JOKE TWO

Well Dave and Charlie have got to 75 and they are still running around at Acacia Ridge.
Sharing a powerade after a strenuous game, Dave says to Charlie “ Charlie we’ve been mates for years and we are both getting towards the end of our time. I want to make a pact with you. Whoever dies first will promise the other one to come back and tell them what Heaven is really like.”

“ Agreed” says Charlie.
Six months later Charlie dies in his sleep and goes to Heaven. At his funeral Dave reminds him of what their agreement was.
One night Dave is awoken by the rustling of the curtains. He looks up and Charlie has returned
“ So” says Dave “ what’s heaven like?”
“ Well there’s good news and there’s bad news”, says Charlie.
“The good news is that we have futsal training every morning and afternoon and there is a Futsal superleague with Athletico, Malwee, Chengdu and Vikings all in it, and Vikings are top of the league! All the other clubs famous old star players are in it !”
“Fantastic” says Dave “ and what’s the bad news?”
“ Your in the starting line up next Monday against Manchester United.”


THAT’S ALL FOLKS…..SEE YOU NEXT WEEK