Three indoor soccer teams from the Limestone Coast have each placed in the top three of the 2023 State Futsal Championships.
Held prior to Christmas, the championships welcomed a record 46 teams across all six of the courts at St Clair Recreation Centre, an impressive indoor facility in Adelaide.
Football SA said more than 100 games were played on the day across a variety of age groups, from Under 9s through to Open competitions.
The Limestone Coast fielded teams in the U11 Boys, U13 Boys and U14 Girls’ divisions, with the teams placing third, second, and second, respectively.
The U11 Boys team included Spenser Koppe, Louis Prosperi-Porta, Luke Olivier, Jacob Schultz, Jack Koopman, Hamish Harleigh, Tatiana Brogan, Tyekon Kelly, Max Yeates, Matt Lalonde, Harry Window, Luke Neumann, Eli Loef and Ben Baxter.
The U14 Girls side featured Marie Onema, Jasmine Siemon, Charlie Moors, Kara Murray, Ashlyn Cornolo, Emmy Jeffrey, Sophie Hole and Saskia Brogan.
Joe Box, Ben Imani, Josh Kumbhare, Ethan Harleigh, Noah Corfield, Sebastian Morello and Sam Swiggs made up the U13/14 Boys side.
Football SA’s Limestone Coast Development Officer and the coach of the U11 and U14 teams Christian Fleetwood said he was thrilled by the success.
“This was a great experience for our region’s players, because they had the opportunity to finally compare themselves to some of the state’s best footballers,” he said.
“That means they competed against players who are representing their state in the NTC programs and others playing at JPL level (the highest in the state).”
Fleetwood was joined by Brian Corfield and former association chief executive Chris Fleetwood as coaches of the teams.
The news comes off the back of a year of official futsal programming at Mount Gambier’s Wulanda Recreation Centre.
These have included a Pre-season Futsal League, indoor MiniRoos season and, lately, the Limestone Coast Futsal League, which fields 27 teams and includes more than 150 players.
Fleetwood said teams will return to the State Futsal Championships in 2024.
