The STC Junior Futsal team competed at the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Futsal Championships in Wellington. After winning their semi-final against Nelson College, the team went on to play Hastings Boys’ High School in the final. A win of 2-1 gave STC the Junior Championship title.

FUTSAL

The Futsal programme is part of the overall Football programme offered at St Thomas of Canterbury College by Head of Football, Mr Richard Washington.

The college is in the process of constructing a new gym which should be ready for the start of 2017. This will have two junior courts and one full size court, which will be extremely beneficial for training and hosting tournaments. With some of the world’s best outdoor players like Messi and Ronaldo playing futsal as juniors, and with Futsal being included in the youth Olympics in 2018 it shows a great pathway for our young men and the future is exciting.

STC Junior Futsal Team at the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Futsal Championships

The Junior St Thomas of Canterbury College team has had a very successful season going undefeated in all Futsal competitions, including the local league, the Mainland championships and now the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Futsal championships; scoring in excess of 200 goals and conceding less than 30 in 21 games.

The Team has been training since December 2015 and have formed some lethal combinations in defense and attack. Heading into the tournament the aim was to make the semi-finals and take each game as it came. The players have a high level of skill, which means that all 10 players can be easily rotated. Captain Mika Rabuka brought a lot of experience to the side through his knowledge of the game from representing Canterbury at past national tournaments. The team was coached by Shannen Valu'u who added expert knowledge and extra spark.

The team was fully supported by staff and students from the college, with many watching the games on live streaming and sending messages of support. The STC senior team who were also at the tournament playing in the senior championship also gave a lot of support and encouragement to the junior team. The culture the college has for its young men in all pursuits is second to none and the team has a very special bond.

The New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Junior Futsal tournament was held at the ASB Sports Centre in Wellington and featured 21 school teams from around the country. Winning 8-2 against Wellington College who were the Wellington regional Champions really fired up the team. The semi-final was played against Nelson College, which was a very good team that boasted players from their 2015 National Championship Football team. With the scores locked at 1-1 in extra time, the match went to penalties. Lachie Doyle came up with a crucial save and Tom Stewart, Aashish Rai and Sean Newsome all converted from the penalty to take the team to the final. 

In the final STC played Hastings Boys’ High School who had won their regional tournament earlier in the year. With the scores locked up 1-1 with less than five seconds on the clock, St Thomas' broke from the back through Aashish Rai, who made a great pass to Sean Newsome who then played it across the court to Takayuki Shimizu, who scored the winning goal with one second on the clock, which was enough to win the National Championships and create history for the college. Two of our players also received individual tournament awards – Lachie Doyle received the Golden Gloves award and Sean Newsome received the Golden Boot award.

Results for Junior Futsal

Game 1 VS Havelock North High School Win 11-1

Game 2 VS Lindisfarne College Win 8-1

Game 3 VS Onslow College Win 15-1

Game 4 VS Mt Roskill Grammar Win 5-2

Game 5 VS Wellington College Win 8-2

Game 6 VS Cashmere High School Win 13-3

Semi-Final VS Nelson College Win 8-6 (on penalties)

Final VS Hastings Boys’ High School Win 2-1

Congratulations to Richard Washington – Manager & Head of STC Football, Shannen Valu'u – Coach, and players - Mika Rabuka (captain), Sean Newsome, Aashish Rai, Takayuki Shimizu, Tom Stewart, Cameron Brewitt, Dylan Bargh, Lachie Doyle, Isaiah Ong, Risias Mutonhori.

STC Senior Futsal Team at the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Futsal Championships

Team

Mr James Vallance (Coach), Mr Richard Washington (Manager), Players - Jamie Milne, Ethan Apeldoorn, Jacob Grosvenor, Jayden Hamilton, Martin Lopez, Michael White, Joe Devine, Sean Bawden

Results

Game 1 VS Hillcrest High School Win 5-0

Game 2 VS St Peters College Palmerston North Win 14-1

Game 3 VS St Patrick’s College Wellington Draw 2-2

Game 4 VS Kavanagh College Loss 1-2

Game 5 VS Papanui High School Win 3-0

The above results meant that St Thomas finished 11th out of 32 teams