SA Schools Statewide Futsal

On Thursday 27 March, our Open Boys and Girls teams competed in the preliminary rounds of the SA Schools Statewide Futsal Competition at the ARC Campbelltown.

Boys

The boy’s competition was structured with two separate pools, both consisting of four schools who would face each other in a round robin tournament, competing for a top 2 position in the pool. Those who did, would book their place in a playoff final that would see the top teams play off for progression into the Finals (played at a later date).

The boys were industrious from start to finish, remaining undefeated in their pool to finish top and play off against Golden Grove, a match they would need to win to progress into the finals. Despite a strong start by the opponents, who jumped to an early lead and withstood a series of attacking forays, NIHS, driven by a strong determination soon gained the ascendency to even the scores before surging ahead to run away 4-1 winners, securing their spot in the finals next term.

Girls

Rather than two groupings, the girls were faced with a different equation that saw them placed into a pool of 6 schools. For them, in order to reach the finals, it was simply a case of winning enough matches to finish in the top 2.

The girls, who were comprised of mostly middle years students, were incredibly resilient to rise to the challenge of playing opponents who were often older than themselves, ending the tournament with 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss to earn their place in the finals through a second-place finish.

Both teams will now look forward to the Term 2 finals series where they will challenge themselves against the best schools in the state with the aim of claiming the state title for NIHS.

A special thanks to Amadeus Bagnara (girls coach), whose knowledge and passion was a feature, heavily contributing to the team’s success.

Matt Mauriello
Sport Manager