Ohau Pioneers Futsal team - the winners of the 2022 Manawatu futsal intermediate 5-a- side competition this term. Photo / Nikki Carroll
Ohau Pioneers Futsal team - the winners of the 2022 Manawatu futsal intermediate 5-a- side competition this term. Photo / Nikki Carroll
In mid-2021, a couple of Ōhau School parents were watching their kids play football and wondering if they should get a team together for the AIMS Games in September.
This annual event is held in Tauranga and gives Year 7 and 8 students an opportunity to compete as an individualor in a team against their age group in 23 sports.
Ōhau School is a small country school with a mix of rural and semi-rural kids, where the students are fiercely proud of their school, one another and their community.
However, when the school looked into the requirements for the event, it realised it didn't have the resources to send a full football team and the games organisers suggested the school looked at futsal instead.
Ohau Pioneers team members receiving their winning medals from manager Ally Bramwell, coaches Julian Newson and Rebecca Imrie, at a post-season pool party. Photo / Nikki Carroll
Futsal is the Fifa-recognised form of indoor football - played between two teams that each has five players on the pitch at any time, with rolling substitutes and a smaller ball than soccer that is harder and less bouncy.
Unfortunately for the newly established Ōhau School futsal team, the 2021 AIMS Games were cancelled due to Covid-19.
Coaches Rebecca Imrie and Julian Newson were not to be deterred and looked around for a local futsal competition for the newbies to get a proper taste of the game as they worked towards the 2022 event instead.
"In term 4 last year we entered the team into Central Football's Palmerston North futsal competition and had a blast.
"At our very first practice we had Rob Easton from Levin AFC come to give us some tips and introduce us to the futsal ball ... we didn't even know there was a different ball," laughed Imrie.
The eight boys and two girls who make up the Ohau Pioneers team are all a little bit crazy about futsal and excited winners of only the second competition they've played in. Photo / Nikki Carroll
The first couple of games were a blur and the Ōhau Pioneers were well beaten by teams that had been together for some time.
However, heads were held high and the kids learnt from every game – finishing the competition with two wins out of six games - not too shabby!
With support from an amazing group of parents, the coaches started searching for competitions this year to keep the team growing.
Matt Wallace from Central Football came to the rescue and let the team know about the 2022 Manawatū futsal intermediate 5-a-side competition happening in term 1.
"Working around Covid-19 restrictions Matt's [organising] team did an amazing job of getting us through seven pool games and a final over two weekends in February-March," said team manager Ally Bramwell.
After a win and a loss on the first day, the Ōhau Pioneers came back to win all their remaining games and then turned that first-round loss against Ross Intermediate into a win in the final.
"A win in only our second competition, the kids are all still buzzing .. so are the parents to be honest," said Imrie.
Ōhau Pioneers are a mixed futsal team, made up of eight boys and two girls, aged 11 to 13 years – Logan Tito, Ryan Sawyer, Luca Munn, Nathan Newson, Cooper Bramwell, Lachlan McKay, Mackenzie Neilson-Imrie, Kiri Milson, Will Everton and Murphy Barr.
The coach's task now is to keep finding competitions for the team to play in alongside the upcoming football season with over 90 per cent of the team playing for Levin AFC, some newly returned having rediscovered their love of the game.
If there are any other local schools interested in setting up a small futsal competition, get in touch with the Ōhau School sports co-ordinator Haley Shaw at sportsconnect@ohau.school.nz
The team parents are also in full fundraising mode to get the Ōhau Pioneers to the 2022 AIMS Games, an exciting but expensive opportunity, costing about $14,000.
So keep an eye out for a range of fundraising efforts over the next few months - from sausage sizzles to bake sales, pine cones to sheep poo – the Ōhau Pioneers will be selling it all!
And if you have any fundraising ideas, or want to support the team in its quest to get to Tauranga in September, get in touch with manager Ally Bramwell on 027 498 1320.
