 AFS U12 Fustal Champions 2008 Back Row: Coach Kon Kyranakos, Harrison, Jacinta, Franco Front Row: Robbie, Nick A, "Miller", Dylan Central Zone enjoyed great success at the AFS Futsal Gala weekend, but no AFS team eclipsed the performance of our U12 team on Sunday. Just scraping into the Semi Finals with a draw and a win from 4 matches, Central Zone overcame one Monash Zone team in an exciting semi final to face another Monash Team in the Final. Having played 5 games without a specialist goalkeeper, nobody expected Central to win the final, let alone to win 4-1 against such a strong team. With great leadership by "Miller", magnificent defence by Franco and Jacinta, tireless determination by Dylan and Nick A, excellent positioning and more confident play from Robbie, and a stunning goalkeeping performance by nine year old midfielder Harrison (who had never played goalkeeper before this tournament) the Central team were outstanding from the moment that the whistle blew. Whilst AFS does not focus on match results or winning, this Championship is particularly significant for Central Zone due to the fact that we struggled to put together an U12 team this season, despite great coaching and facilities. Franco, Dylan and Robbie toughed it out at Central with Coaches Kon and Arpad, two U11 players and Harrison until Round 2 of the outdoor fixture when we finally had enough players to make up an U12/11 team and an U11/10/9 team. This U12 team becomes the first team from Central Zone to win an AFS Futsal Championship. Harrison was one of two Central players to pick up the "Goalkeeper of the Tournament" award for their respective age group, despite the fact that neither is a specialist goalkeeper. Special thanks to Coach Kon (who burned up about as much energy as the players during the day) , for wonderful positive coaching, Assistant Coach Arpad and several other U11 players who played one or more games with the U12 team during the first 3 matches.
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