In term one there were eleven teams entered into the
local league which is played at PGA in Taradale. There
was mixed successes in these leagues with most teams
playing in the finals of their grades.
The next event for futsal was in the Hawkes Bay Champs
where this year there was only a boy’s junior and senior competition – no girls league this year. The junior
boys played extremely well to finish runners- up in the
HB Champs competition, the best placing for our junior boys’ team since futsal started here at HNHS. The
senior boys had a hard road to the final but ended up
winning the HB Champs defeating NBHS.
Three teams from Havelock North High School headed
for Wellington in March to compete in the New Zealand
Secondary School’s competition.
Boys’
Havelock North High School 1V futsal went from first
in New Zealand in 2013 to tenth in 2014. It was a really
disappointing campaign so the senior players agreed
that we had to change our approach to be successful, especially with the increasing standard of secondary school
futsal in New Zealand.
In term four of 2014 we had trials and were very fortunate to have had some coaching by the New Zealand
Futsal head coach Scott Gilligan. This made us a more
motivated and cohesive group. Tai Barham, New Zealand Futsal White representative, was generous in taking
up the role as our coach.
Hawke’s Bay Champions - third year in a row
The Hawke’s Bay Regional Competition came around
quickly, two weeks before the New Zealand tournament
started.
After an easy win against Lindisfarne in the first game,
we crumbled against Napier Boys’ in our second game.
Our third game against William Colenso saw us win 7-2
and advance to the semi-finals.
We played Hastings Boys’ in the semifinal. They had
topped their pool and were fairly confident. Tai changed
our tactics, seating up a defensive shape behind halfway
when we didn’t have position. This changed the dynamic
of the game and our solid defensive structure was the
foundation of our 3-0 win.
In the final we had a point to prove after the whitewash- Futsal Junior A Boys Green Team
ing we received in the group stage from the other finalist, Back Row: Robert Curtis, Finlay Keip, Louis Pitt, Simon Murfitt (Coach)
Front Row: Josh O’Halloran, Alex Hart, Harry Setter, William Kelly
Napier Boys’. It was a tight game with no team really
getting clear cut chances to start with, as both teams priority was to defend. We conceded first from a corner but
were still optimistic with our ability to maintain possession and defend.