While most of us were having a break from Futsal/sport over the summer, 6 teams from Canterbury travelled across the ditch to compete at the annual Craig Foster Cup on the Gold Coast in Australia. 

It is the 2nd year that teams from Canterbury have travelled across and by all accounts, it was an enjoyable and successful experience, with two of the teams qualifying for the World Champs in Florida in July.

The teams that competed were Junior Dragons (10s Boys), SUFC (12’s Boys), Red and White Stripes (13s Boys), Christchurch (13s Boys), SAS (14s Girls) and Golden Bootz (15 Boys). 

Red and White Stripes qualified the worlds in Florida by getting through a tough qualifying group (top 3 teams came from this group) and then going on to beat to beat the 3 time winners Gold Coast in the semi-final before winning the championship against Melbourne in the final.

Golden Bootz qualified for the world tournament in Florida by finishing runners-up their championship. The boys came through pool play having won all their games but for a draw against Queensland and a loss to Sunshine Coast. They were able to overturn that loss by beating Sunshine Coast loss in the semi-finals. Queensland took the win in the final but the boys will be proud of their achievements having qualifies for the worlds.

The Christchurch team competing in the 13th Grade made it through to the quarterfinals but were beaten by the 3 time winning Gold Coast team.

The SAS Girls 14th Grade team managed to get 2 wins and only just missed out on a semi-final spot.

The Junior Dragons won 4 of their 6 games, eventually losing to the Australian Champions in the quarterfinal. The game was tight at 1-1 for long periods, eventually finishing 3-1.

The SUFC 12s managed 3 wins, 2 draw and 2 losses in pool and were beaten in the quarterfinals by eventual champs East City, who were the dominant team of the tournament.

Both Red and White Stripes and GoldenBootz have begun looking at options to attend the World Champs in Florida. This comes a big cost so any help will be they can get will be greatly received. If anyone is able to support or sponsor the teams heading over please get in touch with Ronan Naicker at Mainland Football and he will pass on your info to the respective teams ronan.naicker@mainlandfootbal.co.nz

Teams

Junior Dragons: Naoki Takao, Sam Woolhouse - Waimak Utd, Fred Rubin, Aiden De Klerk, Ben Wairepo, Spencer Hair, Henry Murfitt - Christchurch Utd, Wyatt Borella - Ferrymead Bays. Coaches: Grant Woolhouse & Lance De Klerk.

SUFC 12s: Otis Meyers, Thomas Watson, Cameron Cotton, Cameron Blondell, Caden Goodmanson, Ben Greenhalgh, Kwadwo Amoafo, Sena Benseman, Joe Allen Coach: Sam Fowler

Red and White Stripes: Casper Clerens, Isaac Topham, Reece Ager, Ashton Thackwell, Finlay Cotton, James Page, Hugo Greet, Ezra Green. Coach: Ben Lapslie & Nick Ager

Christchurch: Lewis Partridge, Hugo Debenham, Thomas Chao, Callum De Klerk, Jackson Borella, Ine Maro, Liam Murdoch and Flynn OConnor. Coach: Dave Murdoch

Golden Bootz: Finn Mounty GK, Calum Murdoch, Finn Surman, Jonny Sims, Milan Munoz, William Pierce, Cody Reid, Jamie Watson. Coach: Dave Murdoch

SAS Girls: Nakita Latten, Emily Lambie, Jazi Algie, Lottie Whitehouse, Mia Cottrell-Bone, Maddie Northern, Daisy Meyers, Shae Coghlan. Coach: Nico Latten

Article added: Wednesday 13 February 2019