Squad to spend 10 days Down Under
By Taromane Martin
THE Solomon Islands U-17 Futsal team, the Junior Kurukurus will leave the country on Thursday for Australia to undergo final preparations for the OFC U-17 qualifiers in Auckland New Zealand.
Head Coach Stanley Puirana confirmed the team will spend ten days at the Baptist Church Dural centre in Sydney before travelling over for New Zealand for the competition.
“We’ll leave for New Zealand probably on September 30 or October 1. We need to stay 10 days in Australia so the boys can train and get use to the size of a standard futsal court,” Coach Puirana said.
The junior Kurukuru side yesterday were also blessed during their commissioning service held at the Bible Way Church at Kobito.
Bible Way Church elder Mr Edward Ronia reminded the young players that Solomon Islands needs a God fearing futsal team then only can they achieve better results for the nation.
“We need a God fearing futsal team. Futsal is not only about your physical fitness it also needs Godliness,” Mr Ronia said.
“When you combine these two the level of our game will be taken even higher. Not only futsal but also our government, we need God fearing people up there.
Meanwhile, Team Manager, Pastor Nacaneili Seru said they will only be travelling with 11 players for the qualifiers.
Pr. Seru said one of their players was refused visas due to some issues regarding his birth documents which were not sorted out properly.
As a result the team will travel with only 11 players.
The junior Kurukuru side will meet American Samoa and New Zealand in day one of competitions on October 4.
They will play two more matches against New Caledonia and Samoa on October 5 and then followed by Vanuatu and Tonga on October 6 in the final day of competition.
The overall winner of the competition will secure their OFC spot in futsal for next year’s Youth Summer Olympics Games in Argentina.
