Courtesy: Solomon Islands Football Federation


Futsal Contingent leaves today for Canberra

By Francis Pituvaka

HONIARA, 4 Jan: Futsal will be the first sport in Solomon Islands to fly flag its national colours abroad in the New Year when they participate in the 26th Australian National futsal championship in Canberra starting next week.
A 36 member team comprising players and officials will travel to Canberra via Sydney this afternoon for this competition.
It will be the first time for Solomon Islands to be represented by three teams. Two boys and a girl's team have been preparing for this competition since last year and futsal officials are confident they will fly Solomon Islands flag higher in Canberra.
Of the three teams, the U14 boys' team has the biggest task to accomplice because they will be defending the title they won last year when they defeated the New South Wales Waratahs 6-4 in the grand final. The two teams had met previously in the finals and Waratahs had humbled the Solomon boys in their first appearance. However, last year avenged their loss when they beat Waratahs in the age group U13.
Their mission in this competition is to repeat their feat and they are confident they will go all the way to the finals and defend their crown.
The U13 girls will be representing Solomon Islands for the second time in this competition and like their male colleague they too will be looking forward to better their performance. They had their debut last year and managed to reach the semi finals and with that experience they hope to improve their performance in this competition.
Participating for the first time is the U13 boys' team. Twice they had their trip cancelled because of financial reasons and this year Solomon Islands futsal partners in Sydney - Dural Sport & Leisure Centre and Dural Baptist Church ensures that they participate in the Canberra championship.