South Coast Taipans kick huge goals in 2023
It has been a historic 2023 season for the South Coast Taipans who have been crowned Futsal Premier League 2 Premiers for the first time in both the Open Mens and Open Womens competitions.
The regional club has always been about the development of their teams and the sport.
The South Coast club have worked hard in previous seasons to get towards the objective of developing players as well as clinching silverware.
At the forefront of this dream that has now turned into a reality has been Taipans Technical Director Bobby Mazevski who coaches the Mens team and helps out in the womens system.
Mazevski was glowing following the stat that the majority of the club will be playing finals football before the last round this weekend.
“I am incredibly proud,” Mazevski stated to Football NSW.
“We have all our teams bar one as finalists. To be in this position already is a remarkable achievement. Everyone at the club should be proud including our staff behind the scenes.
“These have been the first title for both our Mens and Womens sides which is quite special and a remarkable achievement.”
One key component to the Taipans success this season has been the incorporation of the youth within the squad and not being afraid to use them.
“The youth grades have been great for us this year. Some of them have played better in the open grades than their own grade. We haven’t been afraid to use them in crucial times in games.”
For the Mens side, Mazevski preached about the depth and experience in the squad which has steered them towards the title success.
“We have had only one game with our full squad which is an exciting prospect.
“We also added some depth and experience in Rick Goodchild and Harrison James to flesh out the squad where the oldest player is 26.
“They have also been consistent this season which was something we lacked in recent years. We are also kicking ourselves on games we threw away.
“One of my proudest moments this season was the comeback against APIA FC Futsal because in previous seasons we would have folded in those games.”
Looking at the Taipans Womens squad, they have a quality team which has taken the next leap after losing the Grand Final last season.
“There are plenty of goal scorers in the team and they have scored for fun this season.
“We took some time to pull together but have now won nine on a trot.
“The big positive for them is they have scored some quality futsal goals, knocking it around finding the gaps before scoring.”
Development has been a big focus for the Taipans which includes growing the sport in the South Coast region and Mazevski reckons they have started to make that mark.
“Our goal is to build the sport and make sure players come back each year.
“The Illawarra is football dominant, but we have a good facility in Illawarra Hockey Centre so we’re making a mark.
“We train once a week with all our teams no matter the result. That is something we won’t sacrifice that for anything in our plans to grow the sport.”
The Taipans will now look forward to the finals series next weekend where they hope to add the icing to the cake to an extraordinary 2023 Futsal season.
-By Justin Davies
