Futsalroos join Kurukuru to support young Solomon Islands futsal players | Football Australia

Jamie Dib, who joined the full Futsalroos squad in supporting some of the drills, weighed in with his view on the program participants. “Honestly, being here this morning, seeing the talent here [in the country] is really incredible. Just watching them play and how free they play, and how creative they are, it’s pretty incredible. I think the future of Solomon Islands [futsal] is going to be exciting.”

Pastor Seru is the leader of the program. He told Football Australia Media about its beginnings in 2001, thanks to the efforts of Pastor Brian Codrington, who also founded Australian futsal club Dural Warriors in 1994.

“This program has really raised the Kurukuru players.”

“Six years after the introduction of Futsal, they [Kurukuru] went to their first World Cup qualifier in Fiji. And I know New Zealand was looking forward to being champions, especially when Australia moved to Asia. But to their shock and their surprise these 16-year-old boys had their first win against them.

“So seeing these children developing and becoming national players, playing in the World Cup, is really a big thing for us. We want to produce more and more. We know that we will continue to do this work and we will develop more players who can represent this country in the future.”

“There’s plenty of razzlers [skilled players] amongst them,” Futsalroo Wade Giovenali added, who plays for Dural Warriors as his club side in Australia.

While at Dural, Giovenali routinely played with and against many of the current Kurukuru squad, including at junior nationals, where Solomon Islands regularly send a team.

For Giovenali, who has played international friendlies in Australia beforehand, it was incredible to be a part of the first international futsal match