Futsal Five-A-Side Australia
Background...
Futsal Five A-Side Australia (FFAA) was formed in September 2006. After being part of several soccer federations, David Birch thought that it was time to branch out and create a new federation that kept playing costs to a minimum but also was able to offer its members the chance to play on the national and international scene.
Coniston Indoor Soccer centre, the oldest and most respected centre on the South Coast was the first centre to join this new federation. Willoughby Leisure centre in Sydney followed, as did a centre from Swan Hill, Victoria. This all happened in the first year of operation.
Seasons 2006 and 2007 have seen team and player numbers grow with many exciting games played at both the Coniston and Willoughby centres.
2008 started well with Coniston and Willoughby centres both nearing their playing capacity for teams playing Juniors, Men's, Ladies, Mixed and Over 35's.
Futsal Five A-Side Australia (FFAA) was formed in September 2006. After being part of several soccer federations, David Birch thought that it was time to branch out and create a new federation that kept playing costs to a minimum but also was able to offer its members the chance to play on the national and international scene.
Coniston Indoor Soccer centre, the oldest and most respected centre on the South Coast was the first centre to join this new federation. Willoughby Leisure centre in Sydney followed, as did a centre from Swan Hill, Victoria. This all happened in the first year of operation.
Seasons 2006 and 2007 have seen team and player numbers grow with many exciting games played at both the Coniston and Willoughby centres.
2008 started well with Coniston and Willoughby centres both nearing their playing capacity for teams playing Juniors, Men's, Ladies, Mixed and Over 35's.
Affiliations...
During the FFAA Men's representative team participation at the 2007 World Cup of national Sides - held in Russia, FFAA was invited into the International arena by the executive of Union European de Futsal (UEFS) and accepted by the federation members as the official Australian body when President of Futsal Five A-Side Australia, David Birch signed a treaty endorsing FFAA's affiliation with UEFS.
FFAA representative teams - Juniors, Men's, Ladies and Veterans teams - are now able to attend International events that are held all year round thoughout Europe.
Early February 2008, FFAA executive have received an invitation from the executive of AMF to a congress meeting in Asuncion, Paraguay where consideration of FFAA's membership in the Futsal world body is to be determined.
Future...
In addition to the International affiliations, FFAA is looking to expand within the Australian and Pacific region to enable greater exposure and development opportunities for the game of Futsal.
Discussions are already underway with New Zealand to establish opportunity for competitions between the two countries.
New centres from Melbourne, Sydney and the South Coast have expressed interest in joining our federation which will see opportunity for additional tournament venues and a larger player base to stake a claim for selection in the Australian Men and Ladies teams.
Tournaments...
During January 2007, FFAA held its first ever invitational Inter-State Club Championship at the Willoughby Leisure centre. The second was held at the Hills Sports Stadium, Castle Hill over the 2008 Australia Day long weekend with 30 teams from Victoria, ACT and NSW (Parramatta, Liverpool, Illawarra, Willoughby and the Central Coast) participating in Open Men's Ladies, U15-16's, U12-13's and U11 events.
A special thank you to Steve Burke and his staff for their involvement during the tournament over the long weekend.
Fotogallery of the Australian national team in the 1st Worl cup among National teams held in Russia 2007: http://conistonindoor.com.au.112.webhostforasp.net/Gallery/tabid/59/Default.aspx
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