Two Gippsland girls will be representing Victoria at the 33^rd FFA National Futsal Championships. Great friends, Maddi Richardson and Steph Tanti, will take the court donning the blue and white for the Open Womens team.  After winning the Silver medal at the Nationals in 2013 they are hoping to go one better and be named the Australian Champions. Both players had exceptional tournaments in 2013 with Steph being named in the Australian Allstar team at the Presentation Ceremony. They are only two of four players returning from the same team last year.

Training has been weekly in Melbourne under Coach Mark Torcaso.  The twelve player squad will leave today to travel to Canberra where games are being held at the Australian Institute of Sport. The tournament commences tomorrow, Monday 13^th January and will go through to Friday 17^th. Australia’s best indoor talent is back in the Country’s Capital as the cream of the crop take to the court in a bid to be crowned champions at the end.  The teams to beat are A.C.T. in both the womens and mens tournaments as they claimed the honours by defeating both the Victorian sides in the Grand Finals last year. 

The growth of Futsal Worldwide continues apace with the many benefits associated with the game beginning to be recognised by the pre-eminent coaches of our era. Being involved in Futsal is an extension of players outdoor football where both sports complement each other. With the smaller court and goal sizes, and only five-a-side, Futsal players are constantly placed in demanding decision making situations, requiring quick thinking, good ball control, precise passing and vision. Factors required in building the complete footballer.

Steph is in her third year of playing Futsal.  She was a member of Richmond in the Melbourne Futsal V-League Competition and also played for Melbourne Heart in the inaugural Hummel F-League. This 2014 State team will be her eighth representative side including Melbourne Victory (5 outdoor state sides and 3 Futsal).

Maddi is also in her third year of Futsal.  She was part of Cobra’s when they won the State Championship in her first season.  And now, as she is studying a Bachelor of Education at La Trobe University in Bendigo, she competed in the University Futsal competition where her team won.  She also currently plays back in her home town of Sale in the Wellington Shire Futsal mixed competition.   Maddi began outdoor football at the age of 5 and the 2014 squad will be her tenth State Representative team (7 outdoor State teams and 3 Futsal). 

Both girls love Futsal and they thrive at playing at the highest level. They enjoy the risk taking and technique needed to score goals. They both scored goals at last year’s Nationals, which they say, adds to the fun of it all as well.

Maddi and Steph played all their junior outdoor football in Gippsland, mixing it with the boys teams. Maddi at Sale United and Steph at Churchill United. Mostly they were the only girl in their respective teams.  However, they came together with the best female players in Gippsland to represent the Gippsland Soccer League at many successful Victorian Junior Country Championships and FFV State Championships.  One of the most memorable years was in 2006 when they won both the Country u14 Title and also then went on to win the U14 State Title, defeating their metro counterparts. Another great year was in 2007 when they were a part of the Victorian State League 1 Premiership winning side which earned the GSL promotion into the Victorian Womens Premier league.

The girls have spent many years, which include thousands of hours and thousands of kilometres travelling up and down the highway together between home and Melbourne to pursue their love of football.  Being friends was to become inevitable and they have always supported each other in their careers.  Both girls were identified and have been down the same FFV Development Pathway where they were selected in the same Victorian State teams and competed at the Friendship Games and the Australian Youth Championships.  To top that off they both have both held scholarships at the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) and then the FFV National Training Centre with Steph from 2008 – 2011 and Maddi from 2006 - 2011.  The girls gained even more knowledge from overseas as they were invited to football tours/competitions to countries such as Singapore, China, England, Ireland and Scotland.

These days the girls are cross town rivals where they play for different Clubs at the highest level in Victoria - The Victorian Womens Premier League.  Richardson is coached by Jeff Hawkins at Box Hill United while Tanti is at Sandringham under the coaching of Shaun Parton.

Both players have felt success at their clubs with Richardson’s Box Hill winning the treble in 2012.  This included being the ‘Victorian Womens Premier League’ Minor Premiers, undefeated, Winning the ‘Pelada Cup’ (Womens State Knockout tournament), and then taking out the ‘WPL Championship’ with Richardson scoring one of the goals in the Penalty shootout win against Bundoora in the Grand Final.  In 2013 they ended up League Runnersup and made the semi-finals.  This is where Sandringham took over and with Tanti playing a major role in the teams game plan, they secured the 2013 ‘WPL Championship’ after defeating Heidelberg in the Grand Final. They also won the ‘Pelada Cup’ with a 1-0 victory over Minor Premiers South Melbourne.  In 2012 Sandringham were League Runnersup. 

To sum these two football players up is that their individual sporting resumes are impressive, and have only come about through, not only natural skill, but hard work, commitment, passion, dedication and the determination to succeed.

 

         

(Maddi at the 2013 Nationals)                                   ( Steph playing in Melbourne Futsal V-League)