Courtesy: The Timaru Herald


Hoping to star on futsal stage

Two Timaru teenagers are hoping the town can make a name for itself with futsal.

Seventeen-year-olds Thomas Clarkson and Sam Morton have two squads of players set to head to Christchurch next month for the under-17 national tournament and they say there's a chance local players could make it to a national team.

Interest in the sport arose out of the two students' efforts in a Young Enterprise company, which saw them running an indoor soccer league.

Players in that league were interested in taking the sport further, so contact was made with the Christchurch tournament organisers, who asked the pair if they'd like to start expanding the game in Timaru.

Practices are under way and the two hope to start a futsal league some time next year.

Futsal is Fifa's official indoor football game.

It is essentially a scaled-down version of outdoor football, played indoors.

Teams of five play on a basketball court-sized field, with a smaller ball.

It is considered a great skill developer, demanding quick reflexes, fast thinking, pinpoint passing and a four-second limit on all play restarts.

It is a relatively new sport in New Zealand, but competitions are currently being set up in Christchurch, Queenstown, Dunedin, Nelson, Palmerston North, and Auckland.






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