Rhys Flissinger and Mitchell Jones have been selected for the Australian Youth Futsal team following their performances at the Australian Futsal Association National Championships in Penrith recently.

Rhys’s mum Nicole Flissinger contacted the Australian Futsal Association after Rhys received his letter of selection. She was told that he and Mitchell were two of 20 boys 16 years to 19-years-old selected from the Nationals Tournament.

The boys played locally with Southern Tablelands Football Association (STFA) for many years and were both selected in 2017 season for National Premier League 2 Youth for Southern NSW.

This year (for 2018 season) Rhys has been selected to play as goalkeeper for Capital Football Belconnen FC in National Premier League U18s.

Mitchell has been selected to play for NSW Football South Coast Flame FC in State League U18s. Both boys also currently play in the North Canberra Futsal Club competition.

While playing for Southern on 2017 both  Mitch and Rhys trialled and were selected for the NSW South Futsal Team that contested the National Championships in Penrith from January 11-14.

The boys said the competition was really tough in the extreme heat. The stadium unlike Goulburn’s was not air conditioned and at one stage Rhys became heat affected in his keepers gear.

The NSW South team made it to the finals but went down to Queensland.

Rhys said that their passion for soccer and it’s indoor version came from the early training they received through the STFA and the opportunity to represent Goulburn in regional competitions.

Mitchell said they were lucky also to have supportive parents who were prepared to travel, sometimes considerable distances in any given week to take them to training and to matches.

“There are pathways available for young players to extend their skills and take the sport to the next level,” Mitchell said. “We are thrilled to be selected to play for Australia, but the cost of getting to Spain is quite expensive,” $7,750 per player. The boys will no doubt be looking for sponsorship.