National Paralympic 7-A-Side Championships
The NSW 7-a-side Football Team set off to Coffs Harbour with their mission being to defend the national title that they have won nine times in the 10 years that the tournament has been held.
The squad was again a combination of senior and junior players.
Chris Pyne (c), Ben Atkins, Jack Williams, Brett Fairhall, Connor Marsh and James Turner were fresh and keen due to the lack of international matches this year. Ben Sutton, Gordon Allan, James Hunt and Shaun McCann were again representing their state, while debutants Zac Jones, Granit Haliti, Matt Hearne and Harrison Dowdell looked to impress at these championships.
The squad was again under the capable control of Coach Ian Menzies and Manager Julia Allan, with physio Janath Kasthuriarachchi looking after the players well being.
The opening game was against South Australia. This game resulted in an 8-0 victory for. With the unlimited interchange rule all players spent time on field. A new international rule stated that teams must field two class 5/6 players at all times. As James Turner (our other class 6) was unavailable for this game both Ben Sutton and Granit Haliti had to play the whole game. This was an outstanding effort by both players.
Next opponent was Victoria who was beaten 6-1. Queensland and Western Australia were both defeated 1-0. Both games were ones of missed chances, but again Menzies allowed the younger players to get experience at this level and the senior players came on later to steady the game and ensure that NSW remained undefeated leading up to the final. CPSARA’s Jack Starkey played for WA at these championships and showed all his skills and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The final was against Queensland, always a tough opponent. NSW started well with Harrison scoring the first goal of the game. As with all other games our passing was superb, creating plenty of chances. Queensland was lucky to only be down by 2 goals. The second half was more of the same as NSW scored 2 more goals before Queensland got a consolation goal with 2 minutes to go. At full-time the score was NSW-4, Qld-1. With that result, NSW have now won the championship 10 times in 11 years.
This was a great effort by all players and staff over a long period and shows that NSW is continuing to develop talented footballers and make NSW the powerhouse state in 7-a-side football. In the last 2 years we have added 7 new players to the state team. This is due to the coaching of Ian Menzies, Bill Gurney, the encouragement of the senior players and also the parents who are keen for their boys to represent at a high level. Some of the players are from outside Sydney and they have no problems getting their boys to camps.
The squad’s behaviour was again professional throughout the championships; with the management of our hotel (The Big Windmill) complementing on how all the players conducted themselves during our stay.
Thanks again to Football NSW whose support and assistance is also a key to the success of the state side.
