On Sunday, a selection of local players from the 2019 Super League squad attended a Regional Training Centre run by Futsal Whites head coach Marvin Eakins, and assistant coach Enrico Meirelles.

“Our programs aim has been to get some of the national team coaches around to help with increasing the level of training, and get more players involved in a higher theory;” said Eakins.

“It helps to get a bit more exposure for the players, better training, and coaches that are more aligned to what the NZ team is doing with the purpose linked to the National Team.”

The Regional Training Centres have been working across Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch, now have finally been able to make it to Dunedin after the last scheduled training was cancelled when level-3 was implemented up in Auckland.

“It has been a challenging year for us, and I personally haven’t been able to travel to get anywhere, this is first one due to covid-19 restrictions.”

Eakins has been impressed with seeing a high standard of players around the country, and acknowledges that Auckland have the benefit of being close to the Waikato and Bay of Plenty for NZF selections, therefore seeing a lot of players brought in from those regions.

The challenge for other regions is having the number of high-quality players to make sure trainings are of the expected standard.

“It is good to have the super league and younger players to come into train with a high skill level, having previously been exposed to futsal played at a National level.”

Covid-19 has caused some indecision, due to making it difficult to plan future trainings. The solution is to plan for different options and locations due to Auckland currently being at higher risk.

Coming out of a rough 2020, sport has to be more creative moving forward and coaches must be prepared to change things at the drop of a hat. Eakins hopes community understands the long-term effects post covid-19 and encourages people to stay compliant.

In preparation for super league, the focus is to ensure NZ coaches have the opportunity to show National league (Super League) teams how Futsal is played on an international level, which is a whole step up again.

“We are looking to provide a bit more understanding to the players around the regions, so when players come into that National and International environment, they are aware of the level that is expected.

“This is one of the main challenges we face, so we like to make it easier for players coming in.”

At these Regional Training Centres, there is always the need to showcase your level of skill, fitness, and attitude due to scouts keeping an eye out. Coaches see players in the Super League, but don’t always see how they perform in a training environment.

“Having the opportunity to see hopeful players in a professional training environment, allows us to see individual attitude, how quickly players pick things up, interactions, and teamwork, which are very important aspects of being an international player.

“Being good in super league doesn’t mean getting NZ to world cup, but that’s what we are working on.

“It is exciting travelling between regions and identifying top talent, it allows us to gauge the standard of play and decide how this flows into the next thing.”

Eakins is wanting more players from the Southern region to move up into the next step and is happy to have been able to be a part of a great training day.