By Taromane Martin
THE Solomon Islands U-17 Futsal team, the Junior Kurukurus will depart today 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 need to stay 10 days in Australia so the boys can train and get use to the size of a standard futsal court.
“From Australia then we will make our way over for New Zealand probably on September 30 or October 1 for the OFC qualifiers,” Coach Puirana said.
The junior Kurukuru side will meet American Samoa and New Zealand in their opening match of competitions on October 4.
They will play two more matches against New Caledonia and Samoa on October 5 and then will take on 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.
Meanwhile, Team Manager and Chaplin, Pastor Nacaneili Seru confirmed the squad will be travelling with 11 players only instead of 12 after one of their players could not be given visa approval for Australia.
