Winning the Futsal National League for the first time is still sinking in for Michael Sannum, but claiming the national title is the culmination of years of hard work for the Southern United futsal star and his teammates.

"It's a pretty awesome feeling", Sannum said yesterday, reflecting on Sunday's 4-3 victory over Northern Football in the championship final. "I've been trying to do this for 6 or 7 years so it probably still hasn't fully sunk in."

In a sport which often showcases moments of individual brilliance, the Darren Hart coached team stands out as being even greater than the sum of its (admittedly talented) parts.

"I think you really touched on it there, we are a genuine group - a lot of the other teams have a few talented New Zealand reps and they perhaps rely on those players a bit, whereas we rely on a genuine group mentality and it's paid off for us", said Sannum.

"Over the last four years since Darren's been in charge, he's really instilled that sort of mentality in us; instead of relying on individual moments of brilliance we've focussed on the collective and we've since been one of the more successful teams in the competition."

Hart has built a special group of players who have improved as a unit year after year. After finishing top of the league last season, Southern bowed out to eventual champions Canterbury in the semi-final, a disappointment which Sannum believes helped lay the platform for this season's success. 

"Winning the title with some of the lads that have been there from the start like Carlos Herrmann and Daniel de Souza has been pretty cool. I'm really pleased for all the boys."

Along with the experience offered by Sannum and the aforementioned Queenstown-based Brazilian duo, the squad features a bevy of enthusiastic local youngsters who have made their mark when called upon.

"Not only have the senior boys got it done, but the younger boys have really taken up the mantle and done a great job as well."

"Everyone's done their bit. Someone who's come on in leaps and bounds is Thomas Petersen. Last year he showed glimpses of promise, but this year he's been really confident and has wanted to get on the ball and make a difference, which has been impressive for a young player."

Then you've got 15-year-old Lewis Wall as well, who came to me before the first match of the season down in Dunedin nervous as anything, but he's just kept improving too and you saw that with the amount of game time he ended up getting in the weekend."

As a former Futsal White who still believes he has a lot to offer on the international stage, Sannum had plenty of motivation to perform in the national league - and his superb form throughout the competition saw him awarded the prestigious Player of the League title.

"I'm absolutely stoked about that but I couldn't have done it without the team. At the start of the season I set myself a goal, because I've been out of the New Zealand side for about three or four years now and I really want to get back there. I wanted to prove a point and I feel like I've done that this year and the MVP is recognition of that."

Not content with solely pushing his own name forward for higher honours, Sannum believes that some other members of the champion Southern outfit could compete on the international stage too.

"Fraser Hunter has been there or thereabouts with the Golden Glove award over the last few years and has won it once. For me, he's definitely one of the best keepers in the competition so I feel like he could get a look in at some stage. Tennesse Kinghorn also performed really well, coming into the competition as a bit of an unknown. There are quite a few guys in the squad who could definitely go on to higher honours."

Sannum, Hunter, and Kinghorn, along with a few other squad members, all play their winter football for the Roslyn Wakari club in Dunedin. Sannum feels these kinds of friendships that are built up right throughout the tight-knit squad are vital to Southern United's success, with plenty of travel across the entire country involving red-eye flights and weekends spent away from home.

"The friendships really help off the court as well because you do have times when you doubt yourself and having guys you know well and can pick you up is a big help. We're a really open group."

Futsal continues to go from strength to strength in the Football South region, with record numbers playing the game from a young age - unsurprisingly, the indoor nature of the sport makes it popular with children and parents alike given the occasional extremes in the southern climate.

"It's really exciting, the numbers playing the sport down here are great", added Sannum. "One thing we do need now is to try and bridge that gap between numbers and quality. It would be nice to have a league where people could choose to play top-level futsal all year round if they wanted."

"If we could have a league where kids coming through had the choice to focus on futsal or football then that would be great for both sides of the game as well. But there's definitely heaps of promise through the ranks and I'm sure it will continue."

Along with his goal of representing his country, Sannum is looking forward to the opportunity to face teams from across Oceania in the proposed Trans Pacific Futsal Champions League in 2018 which could see champion teams from across the confederation compete against each other.

"We've qualified for that which is huge. That's another stepping stone for futsal players which is really exciting."
 

Southern United Futsal squad for the finals series: Fraser Hunter, Danniel Bocatios, Michael Sannum, Reid Hulleman, Tennesse Kinghorn  Ben Wallace, Arnon Tapp, Daniel Ramsey, Ito Shunsuke, Liam Sercombe, Tom Petersen, Lewis Wall, Carlos Herrmann, Daniel De Souza

Coach: Darren Hart

Assistant: James Coombes
 

Story by Morgan Jarvis. Photo by Adam Binns Photography.