Eakins Names 2018 AFF National Futsal League Squad

On Friday, AFF National Futsal League Head Coach, Marvin Eakins named his final squad for the upcoming 2018 National Futsal League Season.

The squad features a range of players who’ve taken part in AFF associated Futsal Leagues, including East City Futsal League, University of Auckland Futsal League and Howick Futsal League.

As well as that, the squad also includes a number of new faces to the side, with Vaughan Somerville, Thomas Picken, Luke Maynard and Connor McConchie all named in the side after impressive performances at the 2018 University of Auckland Futsal League.

Returning to AFF from his European endeavours is Flanker Dylan Manickum, who recently signed with Auckland City FC for the upcoming 2018/19 ISPS Handa Premiership.

“Dylan [Manickum] brings qualities that very few players in NZ have and after his time in Europe he will definitely be a key player for us this upcoming season” Eakins said.

"We are looking forward to seeing Dylan stamp his mark this year."

Alongside Manickum, Eakins named three other Futsal Whites, which include Goal Keeper Elias Billeh and Flankers Kareem Osman and Stephen Ashby.

“The international experience these players bring to the side is going to add a lot of value on and off the court to the team” Eakins said.

"Steve [Ashby] has been a consistent performer for AFF and it will be exciting to see how he can start to influence games on attack."

"Any young player should be watching how hard he works in all moments of the game."

Flanker, Caleb Urlich also makes the squad after attaining a significant level of overseas experience.

With the long-term goal of developing youth players capable of competing at the highest level of Futsal in NZ and beyond, Eakins bolstered his squad with a selection of nine youth players out of the final 24.

“The young players in the squad are there on merit rather than age. It is exciting to see that they will have plenty of opportunity to challenge themselves and develop as Futsal players” Eakins said.

“One to mention, Adam Paulsen, who featured heavily in last year’s campaign, he’s still in a development phase, but I can see he’s been working really hard over the course of the year, which is what we want to see during the time the off season.”

“Adam [Paulsen] played for the NZ U18s side at the 2017 OFC Youth Futsal Tournament last year and is a prime example of what we’re trying to achieve.”

Auckland Football Federation 2018 National Futsal League Squad:

Name | Football Club | Futsal League | Representative Team | Position

Staff

Article added: Friday 28 September 2018

Eakins Names 2018 AFF National Futsal League Squad

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