http://www.solomonstarnews.com/sports/national/16980-u16-futsal-wins-cf-challenge

U16 Futsal wins CF challenge
MONDAY, 21 JANUARY 2013 18:40

The U16's late arrival left the team no option but to enter the youth category which comprise of U19 teams.
The Solomon Islands U16 futsal team has won the Craig Foster Futsal Challenge trophy of the youth category in Australia last night.

The team which left the country early Saturday morning amidst flight complications, to compete in the Gold Coast futsal challenge was reportedly unstoppable.
The team arrived in Australia late for the U16 category challenge, and was suggested to take a stab at the U19 youth category’s challenge.

They went in and were too good for the bigger boys to handle.

They won their opener yesterday against Queensland U19, 5-1 and later in the evening thrashed South Brisbane U19, 6-1.

They were in for the top spot as they went in with a lot of spoils for the teams.

They found their ticket to the final and it was against a team they thrashed earlier during the initial matches yesterday – South Brisbane.

South Brisbane was looking for revenge but knew they were in for a tough encounter against the minnow visitors.

They went in and maintained their superiority and score line but conceded one more goal to close their victorious challenge on a 6-2 win in the final over South Brisbane.

Team manager Thomas Kaloka told Star Sports from Australia, South Brisbane have been leading the table tally since round one of the tournament.

He said despite the late arrival which had a very small impact on the team, they managed to regain confidence following their first win.

“The first 5-1 win against Queensland was a boost for the boys since we were playing in a category much higher than our scheduled one.

“The win continued until the final one,” Kaloka said.

Solomon Islands was grouped along with five other teams namely South Brisbane, Brisbane, QFA, NSW and Gold Coast.

Since they arrived late due to flight complications, they were slotted in to compete in the youth category which comprise of U19 teams.

Kaloka said the team dedicated the win to all Solomon Islanders and for those who supported and believed in the team.

The team will return on Wednesday.

By Carlos Aruafu

Although these boys were extremely talented, the team that they played in the finals only had one youth player in the side. Two of the other boys were in fact U16 boys and the rest of the team were all U15s. Our boys were just wrapped to play against such talented young men and will value the lessons learnt from this to further develop their own futsal. Congratulation to the Solomans boys for such an outstanding performance

I played against their mens national futsal team a few years ago, and they were very skillful! The school i used to go to brings out young solomon football players on scholarships, and it's so clear to see the impact futsal has on their development.

Each of the individual boys were extremely good with the ball under their feet. However most impressive were their goalies. These two young men played without gloves and had absolutely superb reflexes and reaches. When these boys first came over a few years back for the FFA nationals a lot of the boys only wore sandshoes. As I said, our boys were just delighted to play against these boys and the thought that they would lose to them was secondary to the thrill of playing against them. It was so obvious that most of the players and parents at the tournament were wrapped to sit and cheer for this team and at every opportunity there was a photo shoot. I really do hope that the Craig Foster Cup brings not only this team but other age groups over for the tournament again next year and if this means the Cups head back to the Solomans then so be it. Our children will learn a lot more than that from the experience.

Although these boys were extremely talented, the team that they played in the finals only had one youth player in the side. Two of the other boys were in fact U16 boys and the rest of the team were all U15s. Our boys were just wrapped to play against such talented young men and will value the lessons learnt from this to further develop their own futsal. Congratulation to the Solomans boys for such an outstanding performance

http://futsal4all.com/2008/05/futsal-spy-report-solomon-islands/
The Futsal Spy : Solomon Islands
May 27th NOT SURE OF YEAR
| 2,451 views

Late on Saturday night, a tired but happy group of Futsal players from the Solomon Islands trudged into the Dural Sport and Leisure Centre after a long journey from Honiara.

This is another stage of a project that started back in 2001 when the Dural Sport and Leisure Centre and the Dural Baptist Church sent a team of Futsal coaches and players to help introduce, in a formal way, the sport to that country. A country torn apart by ethnic tension and armed conflict. A country in need of restoration in all aspect of human life: physical, emotional, relational and spiritual. The sport of Futsal was used to bring people together and help, in some way, in the unification and reconciliation process.

Decentric, do you have any further info on the Soloman Islands and why they are an Oceania "heavyweight"