Futsal Season 2024 Wrap Up

Somerset’s Junior School Futsal teams played Futsal in the Australasian Champion of Champions and Queensland School Futsal Cup

After a successful Stage 1 (Gold Coast Titles) and Stage 2 (SEQ Champion of Champions). Somerset College had qualified a total of six teams for the last and final Stage 3 of the 2024 AFA School Futsal Titles. Please read below the wrap-up from our teams.

Under 10 Girls

This group of Under 10 Girls had just finished a successful football season and then moved into a competitive fast-paced futsal tournament competing against some of the best in the state. 

Going into the three days, the girls knew they were up against older opposition, which added a lot of pressure and nervousness throughout their tournament. Despite this obstacle, the girls put in 100% effort and represented the College and themselves at a very high standard.

After a very close final ending in 4 to 1, which was not a true reflection of the game, the girls were disappointed but overall enthusiastic and a privilege to coach. They turned up and left every day with a smile and never gave up which made me very proud as a coach.

This long weekend was a great experience and learning curve for the girls. They left everything on the court and in future years we try to build on this stepping stone.

Under 10 Girls Runners Up

Charlie Annis, Isabella Jennings, Aneka Mitchell, Scarlett Hasselle, Annie Talbot, Sunny Toomey and Lucinda Sounness.

 - Written by Coach Oliver

Under 11 Girls

The Somerset U11 Girls Futsal team put on an impressive performance at the Australasian Champion of Champions, finishing the pool stage with 3 wins and 1 draw which made them the only unbeatable team in the tournament. This strong run earned them the top spot in their division and a direct ticket to the final.

In the final, Somerset College faced St Andrews College. The match started well for Somerset, with Edith scoring the first goal in the 15th minute, giving the team an early lead. However, St Andrews came back in the second half and managed to equalize, making it 1-1.

Both teams fought hard throughout the remainder of the game, and with no winner at full-time, the match entered an exciting extra 10-minute golden goal period. Despite some excellent attacking and defensive play from both sides, neither team could break the deadlock, and the game went to a penalty shootout.

Unfortunately, the Spartans missed two of their penalty shots, and St Andrews took advantage, winning the shootout 4-2 and claiming the title.

While the result was disappointing, the team showed incredible spirit and determination throughout the whole tournament. 

Well done to Robin Wang, Emma Corder, Edith Hilbert, Alex Lee, Chloe Li, Gabby Steenackers, and Indy Toomey for their hard work and excellent performances. You all played with great heart, and the future looks bright for the Somerset College U11 futsal team!

 - Written by Coach Sean

Under 12 Girls

The Under 12 Girls were placed in a group with Under 12 and Under 13 schools. With a total of eight matches in three days. The girls were required to rank top 2 from their age category to reach the finals. On the first day, we got one win and three losses. On the second day, we knew that we needed good results to progress. The most important is to develop ourselves as good futsal players. So, we challenged ourselves to get the results by playing futsal with short passes and combinations. And when needed, to take players on in a one-on-one situation. The result didn’t go our way, but we are proud of how we played. This team got rewarded for their good playing style later that week at the QSF Cup.

Emily Barry, Bronte Butler, Mayuko Takahata, Arriana Reading, Frankie Dew, Audrey Hilbert, Imogen Sounness, Lulu Hobart and Luella Zerbst.

 - Written by Coach Maarten

Under 9 Boys

The Under 9's had a great start to the tournament on day one, with a win against Peregian College and a draw with Ironside State. The second day saw fatigue and the heat started to set in as the boys battled through a second day of group-stage matches. Results combined from day one and two qualified us for the semifinals on day three. Once again we played against Peregian College. This was a tough and close game, Peregian came out on top with a final score of 6-5. Placing Somerset on bonze overall.

Congratulations to all the whole team: Presley Madden, Harry Corder, Aksel Pitura, Jack Dew, Padra Mostagh, Oliver Hilbert, Axel Wilson, and Ollie Sharples.

 - Written by Coach Keita

Under 10 Boys

The Under 10 Boys returned to the AFA School Futsal competition as the team to beat and had no issue reinforcing this when opening the tournament. I could see they were happy to be back competing. Our well-known opposition had eager plans to dethrone us, with us going through each group game one by one winning fixtures competently and persuasively.

A nail-biting win on Saturday night against Islamic College of Brisbane. They always bring it and are a talented group and we do love playing against a school like this.

A chance for them to cement themselves as again the most promising school team on offer was among us against Peregian Beach College, a well-trained side who in this particular match, were crowned deservingly, but not before our boys gave what they had particularly mentally.

If they could take anything away from this weekend, I hope it is a tweak to the mentality of worrying too much about the outcome of a final, and getting ahead of themselves, to instead approaching it like "I'm going to give it my all, but I don't know what's going to happen and I'll be okay regardless." They must leave space for the fact that things may not go to plan and be okay with that. They mustn't deviate in tough stages of the game, and the adversity we face can bring a landslide of negative thoughts and would be enough to affect the mindset of most players.

Visibly disheartened, you can see how much they care. I felt it too. They'll be back and will channel this into a superpower. The progression they've all made this year is their doing, as people and as players. I commend them for that, and how they conducted themselves this weekend. Absolute legends.

Well done Under 10 Boys Runners Up

Edmund Lee, Hugh Adams, Leo Chen, Denham Barry, Sam Thompson, Zach Sanders, Hunter Sharples and Thomas Chudzinski.

Under 11 Boys

The Under 11 Boys’ Futsal team competed at the recent AFA National School Titles, finishing fourth overall after a challenging and competitive campaign. Competing against top-tier teams from across the country, the Spartans played hard-fought matches against King's, Stretton, and John Paul College. Despite their best efforts, they were narrowly edged out in a highly competitive pool. The weekend allowed our Spartans to develop both technically and tactically, competing against some of the nation's best talent. It is fantastic to see the game's continued development within Australia, with the standard rising each year.

The team, consisting of Louis Hodge, Ethan Kelly-Correa, Knox Black, Sion Kim, Jakub Pitura, Oliver Moir, Sebastian Hall, Johnny Ratcliffe, and Kai Edgley, were praised for their teamwork and perseverance, with each player contributing to the overall success. Stellar individual performances were also recognised with Oliver, Louis and Ethan earning their spot in the tournament's ‘All-Star’ team. Well done to all involved!

 - Written by Coach Kydra

1st and 2nd place for Somerset in the Queensland School Futsal Cup:

Under 12 Boys QSF

Monday 11 November saw the Under 12 boys Futsal team compete in the Queensland Schools Futsal Cup, a tournament that was made up of 16 schools in the state. The boys had a very successful first day, winning all three of their pool games to progress to play the next eight best teams in the competition. On the second day, we proceeded to the quarter-finals, playing Assisi. Assisi have a recognised Futsal program and are known for their talented players. This match was extremely tight, with us coming out to win 1-0. The semi-final was played against Hillcrest, having played this side many times before, the boys knew the challenge they were up against, and impressively they came out to win the game 11-2. Finally, in the grand final, we played St Lawrence. A prestigious Brisbane college with excellent talent. Unfortunately, the opposition was too strong. Our Spartans ended second at the QSF Cup, a fantastic effort!

After being with the boys over the two days, I have to say I was very happy with their display. The style that they played was brave, entertaining and progressive. I felt that they overachieved playing against the best eight schools, but overall deserved it for their efforts.

Well done to our Under 12s Runners Up

Max Bowden, Hugo Hasselle, Andrew Blatchford, Izaak Barclay, Benedict Thompson, Connor Millar-Martin, Zhander Griffiths, Oliver Ng and Paxton Stewart.

 - Written by Coach Jonathon

Under 12 Girls QSF

The Somerset Spartans Under 12 girls rounded out a fantastic year of school Futsal, winning the prestigious QSF Cup and completing an undefeated run throughout the tournament. The girls demonstrated impressive attacking prowess, scoring more than 70 goals across the two days of competition- walking through the group stage with ease. In the semi-final, the Spartans overcame a persistent King's outfit, progressing with a convincing 7-4 win and setting the stage for a thrilling final against Westside. Adapting to the opponent's playing style, the Spartans kept their composure under pressure and clinched the title with an emphatic win.

The squad comprising of Arianna Reading, Audrey Hilbert, Bronte Butler, Emily Barry, Emma Cordner, Frankie Dew, Imogen Sounness, Luella Zerbst and Lulu Hobart represented the College with passion and pride. The QSF cup highlighted the continued growth of the women’s games in Queensland, with our Spartans raising the benchmark for school futsal. Well done to all involved- a well-deserved rest to ensue!

 - Written by Coach Kydra

Our Head of Football and Futsal want to thank his coaching staff for all the work on Friday 8 November, Saturday 9 November and Sunday 10 November. Our Coaches gave up their weekends to coach our junior school futsal teams.

With our hard work from the last years, Somerset was the only school with having 6 junior school teams at the Australasian Champion of Champions. No other school could achieve this! And with having both U12 teams into to Finals at the QSF Cup is something we can be very proud of. This gave us a piece of information that we have a good vision and philosophy in our Football and Futsal programme.

For any inquiries, please contact Maarten de Kruijf mdekruijf@somerset.qld.edu.au