Courtesy: Hills News



Hills residents play key role in Solomon Islands' love of futsal

23 Aug 2016

FOR Kenthurst’s Brian Codrington, a trip to a Solomon Islands in the midst of a civil war in 2000 revealed the full extent of the toll it was taking on the country’s youth.

“We were over there handing out humanitarian aid and when we spoke to people we found out almost every child under the age of 12 had lost hope in their nation,” he told the News. “Some of these kids even had machine guns.”

Mr Codrington and his daughter Sarah visited the Solomon Islands with international aid organisation the Samaritans Purse. At the time, it was estimated that 7000 young men were involved in the conflict while hundreds lost their lives.

Through his ties to The Centre Dural, Mr Codrington helped to answer the pleas of political and social leaders who called for a new focus for the nation’s youth.

“We have been developing futsal in the country since 2002. They were football mad, but didn’t have the fields, so we needed to find a sport they could play indoors. There was no organised sport for any children under the age of 14. We got into schools to develop the sport and trained coaches, referees and administrators.”

Now in 2016 Futsal is the national sport of the Solomon Islands.

Next month, the national team - known as the Kurukuru – will compete in its third consecutive Futsal World Cup in Colombia.

A well-established relationship between The Centre Dural and the Solomon Islands Futsal team meant that Kurukuru were able to training in the Hills before departing to South America.

The Solomon Islands won its first match at a world cup in 2012 with a dramatic 4-3 defeat of Guatamala in Bangkok, Thailand. This year the side has been drawn in group E with heavyweights Argentina and will also play Khazakstan and Costa Rica.

“They will have their work cut out for them in Colombia but to play teams made up of players who are fully professional is an amazing opportunity, ” Mr Codrington said.


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com