Expanded hummel F-League ready for 2014
The fourth chapter of the hummel F-League has stretched its reach yet again with entrants to both the men’s and women’s comp spanning Australia’s east coast, bringing together the country’s best players and exciting young talent in a cauldron of spellbinding Futsal.
The enticement of a 2014 AFC Club Championship berth for the hummel F-League winner is lure enough – but nothing compares to the title of being crowned Australia’s best Futsal club.
The eight-team men’s and six-team women’s round-robin features just about every national player, plus former internationals, dozens of state representatives and some of our sizzling best juniors … and they’re being organised, managed and led by some of the game’s greats.
Kickoff’s scheduled for this Friday night, May 23, at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre, so it’s good luck to all clubs, players and officials as they take Australian Futsal to an even higher plane.
Men’s
A barnstorming Vic Vipers finish landed them the 2013 premiership-championship double, taking the trophies outside NSW borders for the first time after losing just one of their last 13 games to pip Dural at the post, then undoing the defending champions 4-0 in the grand final.
This year’s reshaped men’s line-up features three NSW sides (Dural Warriors, East Coast Heat, Sydney Scorpions), two Victorians (St Albans Strikers, Vic Vipers), two from the ACT (Boomerangs FS, Capital FC) and a northern marauder (South Brisbane Futsal Club), in what promises to be the best and closet edition yet!
Things sound sweet at Vipers with five of the hummel F-League’s top-10 all-time scorers Jonathan Barrientos, Adam Cooper, Fernando De Moraes, Thiago Priori and Miguel Barrigos in their deep ranks alongside some exciting overseas signings and plenty of strong pick-ups (Konrad Machoy and Matthew Vragovski) and the rich Victorian youth system.
Dural will show wounds from last season’s shock 4-0 title loss to Vipers on home turf and have kept the bulk of their squad for this season’s offensive, with three of the hummel F-League’s leading scorers in Jarrod Basger, Greg Giovenali and Nathan Niski (106 strikes between them – almost 10 per cent of all hummel F-League goals scored) linked with the likes of Toby Seeto, Daine Merrin and custodian Alastair Bruce.
An energetic young Scorpions will be out to improve on last year’s debut top-three finish, fronted by Football NSW Premier League MVP Daniel Fogarty and Golden Boot Shervin Adeli, club leading scorer Robert Foti and former Futsalroo Ediz Alpkaya, with goalkeeper of the year Roberto Maiorana between the sticks making them a real force.
Boomerangs will again prove hard to beat, especially with shotblocker Angelo Konstantinou protecting the onion bag and Premier League weapon Michael Reeve rolling the ball, but they’ve had to share the territory’s talent this winter with upstart Capital FC… sure to be a spicy affair when they meet late-season.
St Albans strengthened their goalkeeping line-up with New Zealand representative Clayton Chapell joining Strikers veteran glovesman Damir Sacin, while up front Felipe De Olivera and Marcos Barbosa bring the skills and wisdom from their Brazilian playing days to complement ex-Inner City star Brenno Pollatti De Almeida. Defenders Resit Culculoglu and Nejdet Sahin have also signed this season.
East Coast disappointed in 2013 but look bigger and bolder this time round with Futsal stalwarts Chris Zeballos and Raymond Miller joining rising stars Sam Perre and Jamie Dib under the guile of wily wizards Simon Keith and Jamie Amendolia.
South Brisbane is new to the national men’s scene and the young squad has been training hard leading into first game – and with a plethora of northern talent to pick from and captained by journeyman Scott Fenn no team will be able to tackle them lightly.
It’s déjà vu as 2014 season kicks off with a Friday night affair (May 23) between Sydney Scorpions and East Coast Heat at All Sorts Indoor Sports Centre (7.30pm) – the same opener as last year. The action continues the next morning (May 24) south of the border when St Albans Strikers tackle Boomerangs at YMCA Derrimut Health and Aquatic Centre and Vic Vipers versus Boomerangs later in the afternoon. South Brisbane will also battle Dural Warriors at Queensland’s Eagle Sports Complex (May 24). Two more games in Melbourne on Sunday (May 25) St Albans Strikers against Capital FC while Vic Vipers meet Capital FC.
Boomerangs: Ben Basser-Silk, Daniel Bennett, Jonathan Ciminelli, Nicholas Dahl, Ryan Keir, Jason O’Dwyer, Michael Reeve, Callum Smith, Glenn Smith, Jake Wilsener, Thomas Zeitlhofer, Angelo Konstantinou (gk), Keiran Stroh (gk), Nick Van Aalst (gk), player/coach Kristian Collins
Capital FC: Aidan Brown, Jason Farrell, Brett Forward, Daniel Giovinazzo, Cameron Gordon, Richard Moon, Sean O’Neill, Linh Phan, Ryan Quarmby, Michael Rinaudo, Bradley Sawyer, Slavissa Stojilovic, Nathan Swientek, Aizaz Syed, Raymond Moon (gk), Gianmarco Senatore (gk), Zachary Sorenson (gk), coach Eddie Senatore
Dural Warriors: Jacob Basden, Jarrod Basger, Adam Bradley, Zach Caruana, Corey Finch, Greg Giovenali, Wade Giovenali, Brendan Hoyer, Glen Kelshaw, Kaan Kilinc, Daine Merrin, Nathan Niski, Nathan Philips, Bruno Pivato, Chris Polkinghorne, Blake Rosier, Tobias Seeto, Marco Turpeinen, Alastair Bruce (gk), James Brunacci (gk), Nick Starr (gk), coach Rob Varela
East Coast Heat: Jamie Amendolia, Jonathan Barzel, Bruno Bellardo, Diego Bellardo, Corey Biczo, Tuan Cao, Harley Da Silva, Jamie Dib, Miles Downie, Jordan Guerreiro, Johnathan Kontalis, Lev Lewis, Raymond Miller, Clayton Musumeci, Gavin O’Brien, Robert Perre, Sam Perre, Mitomo Somehara, Chris Zeballos, Mark Brackenrig (gk), Peter Spathis (gk), coach Simon Keith
South Brisbane: Scott Fenn ©, Pascal Budini-Glass, Andre Gimenez, Renagi Ingram, Nikita Kvasov, Peter Panaretos, Rhys Pope, Daniello Romano, Adam Stacey, Tom Sutton, Caleb Urlich, Ali Malih (gk), Ben Wasley (gk), James Weidmann (gk), coach Felipe Amorim
St Albans Strikers: Jose Portillo ©, Marcos Barbosa, Mark Borchert, Ricardo Castro, Resit Culculoglu, Brenno Pollatti De Almeida, Juso Julardzija, Aguek Malek, Mahamad Matar, Vadim Mazurskiy, Clint Mogoai, Dino Redzepovic, Nejdet Sahin, Gavin Schipp, Noel Soma, Jonathan Tabarkiewicz, Felipe Tadashi, Ian Twist, Cem Bicer (gk), Clayton Chapell (gk), Felipe De Olivera (gk), Lionel De Souza (gk), Liam Digby (gk), Damir Salcin (gk), coach Robert Lakovski
Sydney Scorpions: Shevin Adeli, Ediz Alpkaya, Shayne Ardle, Michael Cimino, Dominic Cox, Daniel Fogarty, Daniel Fornito, Robert Foti, Andres Gomez, Brian Briffin Coles, Matthew Hall, Shaun Irwin, Dean Lockhart, Dylan Maloney, Daniel Martinez, Ian McAndrew, Marino Musemeci, Mark Symington, Daniel Vellonio, Roberto Maiorana (gk), David Plowright (gk), Stephen Spirou (gk), coach Ernie Bivona
Vic Vipers: Jonathan Barrientos ©, Maxim Avram, Jason Barrientos, Kevin Barrientos, Miguel Barrigos, Victor Brauner, Adam Cooper, Fernando De Moraes, Tiago Fracasso, Angelo Fusca, Diego Garcia, Vinicius Leite, Gabriel Lucena, Konrad Machoy, Ben Monteleone, Joe Monteleone, Kui Sen Mu, Thiago Priori, Joshua Pulvirenti, Ryan Timmins, Matthew Vragovski, Colby Waterfield, Christos Apostolakis (gk), Kieran Pates (gk), coach Milton Sakkos
Women’s
Last year’s inaugural women’s hummel F-League was an absolute cracker as Sydney Scorpions came from fourth place on the ladder to win the maiden championship.
This year a condensed six-team tournament features two clubs from NSW (Dural Warriors, Sydney Scorpions), the ACT (Boomerangs FS, Capital FC), and one each from Victoria (Vic Vipers) and Queensland (South Brisbane Futsal Club) to form a terrific national competition.
Title-holders Scorpions lost key players Doris Osman (to Boomerangs) and Ceyda Cambaz (to Dural) but new coach James Gilligan (from the Football NSW Premier League Women’s Champions Campbelltown Quake) has covered the gaps with Matilda Servet Uzunlar and Renee Tomkins, Caitlin ‘Pommie’ Jarvie and Jodie Bain all joining the team this season.
2013 grand finalists Boomerangs FS has been forced to share ACT’s rich Futsal talent with newcomers Capital FC this season, which also dishes up a delicious mid-season grudge match, while Vic Vipers now have Australia’s southern reaches at their beck and call, and a year-wiser South Brisbane saw coach Justin Morrison keep the core of last year’s promising squad.
Dural are transfixed on emulating their men’s side success and will look to make the finals this season on the back of some strategic recruitment, coach Futsalroo Tobias Seeto indicating his squad was nicely balanced “with a good mixture of youth and experience. We are focusing on one game at a time and everyone is looking forward to the first round,” he said.
The Warriors move north for an opening clash against South Brisbane at Eagle Sports Complex on Saturday (May 24), matches continuing in the southern realms at YMCA Derrimut Health and Aquatic Centre as Vic Vipers take on ACT-entrants Boomerangs and Capital FC.
Boomerangs: Michelle Aurousseau ©, Hayley Buckingham, Rebecca Collins, Michaela Day, Ruth Kravis, Clare Munro, Nadia Nisbet, Nikola Orgill, Doris Osman, Becky Roche, Nicole Somi, Kate Thornton, Maddy Whittall, Chloe Avgoustou (gk), Tatijana Curic (gk), Sophie Rolfe (gk), coach Kristian Collins
Capital FC: Najwa Allen, Erin Clout, Natalie De Marco, Nicole Jalocha, Lauren Keir, Jinneecka Klenka, Sian Minary-Bland, Lauren Raftery, Phoebe Worth, Tahlia Davidson (gk), Jessica Giovinazzo (gk), coach Eddie Senatore
Dural Warriors: Demelza Howard ©, Ariella Cabezas, Ceyda Cambaz, Dominique Caridad, Emma Clarke, Bianca Dobson, Kahlee Doyle, Sarah Easthope, Jessica Elliot, Bethany Gordon, Grace Ha, Erin Hill, Tara Pender, Rachel Perrins, Eleanor Rugg, Natalie Spirovski, Karly Vouros, Dimitie Whiteman, Kim Doohan (gk), coach Tobias Seeto
South Brisbane: Sarah Amorim, Charlotte Boyes, Georgie Bridges, Ashleigh Bucknall, Larissa Crummer, Caroline Drummond, Monnique Hansen Kofoed, Nichole Laws, Gabrielle Marzano, Jessica McLean, Emma Pittman, Brooke Skelly, Natalie Tathem, Shannon Tathem, Noran Abaza (gk), Tegan McKee (gk), Bianca Walsh (gk), coach Justin Morrison
Sydney Scorpions: Jodie Bain, Dana Buttegieg, Laura Donnelly, Logan Garard, Caitlin Jarvie, Naomi Nguyen, Rhianna Pollicina, Lauren Ralston, Zoeie Redman, Sarah Roger, Jo-Anne Saliba, Renee Tonkins, Filiz Urkanci, Servet Uzunlar, Claire Walsh, Elisha Williams, Mel McCauley (gk), Tani Rosekelly (gk), coach James Gilligan
Vic Vipers: Jessica Byrne, Azize Erenli, Sienna Fogarty, Daniela Gudelj, Ilona Jakab, Meri Mitkovski, Hannah Ryan, Letizia Sammut, Kat Smith, Alkmini Stefanidis, , Kristin Stensholt, Stephanie Tanti, Elaina Vatcky, Tyla Vlajnic, Molly Boorman (gk), Bethany Mason-Jones (gk), Elizabeth Sarcevic (gk), coach Garry Liakoureas
-By Dan De Nardi, Official hummel F-League Journalist
