BY ROMULUS HUTA
THE national youth futsal team will name their final 10-man squad for the Youth Olympic Games upon return from their current Australia tour.
The national youth side is currently on a week-long training camp at the Sydney-based Dural Sports Leisure Center in Australia.
This is part of their preparation toward this year’s Youth Olympic Games in Argentina come October where futsal is debuting for the first time.
A total of 12 boys are currently on this trip to Australia, accompanied by Head coach Stanley Puairana, Assistant coach Dickson Kadau and Team Manager Nacanieli Seru.
Puiarana said competition for those final places in the team is tough.
“It is very hard to decide on the final ten players for the Youth Olympics but we’ll use the Australia training camp to select our final squad,” he said.
“All the players have performed in the National Futsal League and they deserved a place in the final squad.
“But it will come down to who deserved it more based on the effort they put in training and their attitude off the court will also play a major part.”
Team Manager Seru said: “Junior Kurukuru management have come up with 12 names after intensive training and good experience in a very competitive SIPA league.
“In the 12 months our boys have had the opportunity to improve themselves by playing against some very strong clubs that are comprised of senior Kurukuru players.
“This trip is basically to help our boys adapt into an international standard court,” Seru added.
“Also the training camp will help us to identify players who are strong mentally to handle the challenge of being away from home.”
