Byron Bay will host an opening round match on March 27, taking on Port Macquarie FC.

The official draw was released by leading football commentator Andy Harper and Northern NSW Football CEO David Eland, along with representatives from Schweppes Australia and local teams.

Mr Eland is pleased with the response for the Solo Cup in its inaugural year.

“The competition is a Statewide knockout designed to further develop the rich football culture throughout Northern NSW and is a unique opportunity for clubs to compete against clubs from outside their regional competitions,” he said.

“The success of this year’s Solo Cup will certainly lead to women’s and also Over-35s knockout competitions.” 

Northern NSW Football would like to work towards the winner of the Solo Cup progressing to compete against the winner of Football NSW’s equivalent competition.

The Solo Cup will culminate in finals to be held at BCU International Stadium, Coffs Harbour, in July.

The Statewide competition with a total prize pool of $10,000 has attracted 56 teams from across Northern NSW Football’s seven zones.

The Solo Cup launches a new partnership between Schweppes Australia and Northern NSW Football, with both organizations excited about the opportunity to develop the game at grassroots level, commencing with the inaugural Solo Cup.

Schweppes has an association already with Football Federation Australia at a national level and is looking forward to now working with Northern NSW Football on grassroots initiatives with clubs located on the Far North Coast.

“Schweppes is very excited to announce its new partnership with Northern NSW Football, and proud to be a partner of football in Australia,” said Phillip Flanagan, Account Manager, Impulse & Convenience for Schweppes Australia.

“Connecting our iconic brands like Solo with the rapid growth of football in Australia represents a genuinely exciting opportunity for us, and we have been thrilled with the response of the football community to date.”
 
Due to the expansive area covered by Northern NSW Football, the competition is divided into two pools, the Northern Pool and Southern Pool, to determine quarter-final placings.

The Northern Pool will comprise of club teams from Mid North Coast Football, North Coast Football, Northern Inland Football and Football Far North Coast.

Round One of the competition will be held on Saturday 27th March 2010. The winners from Round One will then progress into knockout rounds until the Northern Pool quarter-finalists are determined. 

Round One draw for FNC teams:

• Host, Kempsey Saints FC, Kemp Street Fields (Kemp Street, West Kempsey), Pacific Palms v South Lismore Celtic FC 1pm.
• Host, Byron Bay Rams, Byron Rec Ground (Carlyle Street, Byron Bay), Byron Bay Rams v Port Macquarie FC 3pm.
• Host, Coffs City United FC, Forsyth Park (Maclean Street, Coffs Harbour), Goonellabah FC v Norths United 3pm.

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South Korea, China, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Egypt, Indonesia, England, France, Italy, USA and three Japanese teams have also received invitations to the tournament.

The 2010 Tokyo Youth Tournament will see Northern NSW and Football NSW combine forces in a joint squad for the first time, with eight players representing each federation which includes players from Country NSW representative sides.

The squad will travel to Japan on April 22 where the players will enjoy home-stay hospitality of the Yaizu Football Association while attending a three-day pre-tournament camp, involving matches against teams in Shizuoka Prefecture and possible attendance at the Shimizu Pulse vs Omiya J League fixture on April 24.

The squad will then travel to Tokyo for the Youth Tournament from April 27 until May 2 where all matches will be played at the Kamazawa Olympics Sports Grounds on synthetic pitches.

The full squad is as follows:

Andrew Pawiak  Hunter Valley/NNSW Football

Reece Papas  Newcastle/NNSW Football
 
Willis Nadfalusi Newcastle/NNSW Football
 
Stefan Barrie  Newcastle/NNSW Football
 
Jayden Walker Far North Coast/NNSW Football
 
Kalen Petrie Far North Coast/NNSW Football
 
Je Jacobs North Coast/NNSW Football
 
Benjamin Hay Macquarie/NNSW Football
 
Blake Tuxford Sydney/Football NSW
 
Darcy Madden Wollongong/Football NSW
 
Aaron Calver Wollongong/Football NSW
 
Jesse Taunton Long Beach/Football NSW
 
Joel Steward Dubbo/Football NSW
 
Darcy Pawlik Albury/ ootball NSW
 
Nathan Blaxter Merimbula/Football NSW
 
Jack Press Bathurst/Football NSW

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Being a FIFA World Cup year, it’s a great chance for kids new to football to experience the World’s Biggest Game and support the Socceroos on their World Cup Journey.

Scheduled for Hepburn Park, Goonellabah, this Sunday, February 14, between 9am and 12pm, there will be a host of activities and information for new footballers.

Kids and parents will be introduced to Small Sided Football, as well as have the opportunity to take part in penalty shootouts, win prizes and giveaways plus speak with Community Football representatives from both Northern NSW Football and Football Federation Australia.

The day will also provide parents with all the information they need to have their children play with their local club in the Far North Coast area.

“The morning of activities is anticipated to be a great boost to the activities of Football Far North Coast and their recruitment campaign to get more young male and female players actively involved in sport and leading a healthy lifestyle playing the world’s biggest game,” a Northern NSW Football spokesman said.

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NNSWF has extended an invitation to all of its member clubs to compete in the competition and it is anticipated that the inaugural title will be hotly contested by teams from the seven zones of NNSW.

The competition is open to all men’s Northern NSW Football Premier Competition Clubs and Senior Zone Member Clubs and will be conducted on a straight knockout basis, with teams competing for a total prize pool of $10,000.

Due to the expansive area covered by Northern NSW Football, the competition will be divided into two pools, the Northern Pool and Southern Pool.

The Northern Pool will comprise of club teams from Mid North Coast Football, North Coast Football, Northern Inland Football and Football Far North Coast.

The Southern Pool will comprise of club teams from Newcastle Football, Macquarie Football, Hunter Valley Football and the NNSW

Premier competitions are the NBN State League and NEWFM 1st Division.

NNSWF Operations Manager Alan Nisbet is pleased to announce the inaugural NNSWF State Cup and predicts the opportunity for lower-division clubs to compete against and knockout teams from higher divisions will be seen as a chance not to be missed. 

“This is a great opportunity for clubs from all levels of competition to test their ability in the cauldron of a knockout competition whilst competing for a total prize purse of $10,000,” Nisbet said.

Key dates subject to number of nominations received:

Round                                                            Date

Nominations and fees due                  Friday 29th January 2010

Round 1 (Northern Zones)                  Saturday 27th March 2010

Round 1 (Southern Zones)                 Wednesday 31st March 2010

Round 2 (All Zones)                            Wednesday 28th April 2010

Round 3 (All Zones)                            Wednesday 26th May 2010

Round 4 (All Zones)                            Wednesday 23rd June 2010

Quarter-Finals                                     Saturday 10th July 2010 (Coffs Harbour)

Semi-Finals                                         Sunday 11th July 2010 (Coffs Harbour)

Cup Final                                             Saturday 7th August 2010 (TBA)

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The club celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2008, the same year the first links were forged with the coastal town of Candi Dasa, a Balinese fishing village with a big reliance on tourism.

On that occasion, former player Ian Monaghan took a set of Lennox shirts for a team playing in the Bug Bug League.

His teammate and another regular visitor to the town, Graham Brown, has just returned after tipping the airport scales to overload with six full team sets of shirts and boots for players from school-age to seniors.

The Sharks’ distinctive orange, black and white is now a regular sight amid the coconut groves the locals call their home ground – complete with liberal deposits of cow pats and wheel ruts.

And for the record, the 2009 season just finished saw Candi Dasa make the grand final; an event as dramatic as any decider.

Two-all at full-time and after extra time and with fading light (no floodlights here) a penalty shootout went goal for goal to 11-all by the illumination of motorcycle headlights parked around the goalmouth amid a crowd of about 2000.

A second penalty shootout was held the next day, won by Bug Bug.

Lennox is hoping it can claim a title a little easier, but their quest for next season is to climb back into the Premier Division and build on the 51 teams presently playing in men’s, women’s and junior divisions.

The club will soon start recruiting for season 2010 and is on the lookout for players as well as sponsors.

Inquiries regarding the club to life member Brenda Zakaras (6687 7300).

PICTURES: Former Lennox player Graham Brown, second right, after presenting Balinese juniors with their Lennox Head Soccer Club shirts.

Fitting donation … school children in Samuh village school, eastern Bali, try on their donated boots from the Lennox Head Soccer Club.

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Carl Ashworth (Coorabell), Jye Beardow, Candace Riley-Cox (Lismore), Mathew Farrington (Modanville), Solomon Guyler (Brunswick Heads), Riley Hore (Goonellabah), Dane Ingham (Skennars Head), Amy Jones (Possum Creek), Thomas Miller (Richmond Hill), Tariq Ra (Myocum), Dane Smith (Ballina), Zoe Woodbury (East Ballina), Cooper Walls (Wollongbar) and Geena Skow (Cumbalum) have been selected for the intensive 20-week program implemented by Northern NSW Football and supported by the Newcastle Permanent.

Newcastle Permanent CEO Terry Millett said: “We’re delighted to play a part in nurturing junior football development in the region.

“The Northern NSW Centres of Excellence are an exciting initiative created to develop further talent in young Far North Coast footballers.

“The participants are outstanding young athletes with a real passion and with a committed dedication to training and improving their game.

“Newcastle Permanent is committed to supporting junior football throughout the Far North Coast.

“This sponsorship complements the other community activities and events we support in the Lismore and Ballina areas including Far North Coast Surf Life Saving, NORPA, Ballina Rivafest, Newspaper in Education (NiE), Newcastle Permanent Primary Schools Mathematics Competition, Ballina Players and the upcoming Cinema under the Stars.”

David Eland, CEO for Northern NSW Football, is grateful to the Newcastle Permanent for their commitment to this new program.

“With the help of the Newcastle Permanent, we will be able to develop the talents already evident in these young players and provide them with the technical ability to progress their football to the next level,” said David.

The Newcastle Permanent Centres of Excellence program will be located in four venues in Northern NSW – Lismore, Armidale, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie. The program will include two weekly coaching sessions over 20 weeks.

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Football Federation Australia (FFA) and Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) have agreed in principle to provide a combined $40,000 towards the study, adding to $50,000 already committed by project’s facilitators, Southern Cross University.

Ms Saffin said so many dynamic people from the worlds of football, academia and her own sphere of influence – politics – were working enthusiastically towards an institute which would grow the game in Northern NSW, Australia and the Asia Pacific region.

FFA’s Sydney-based Head of Game Development, Matt Bulkeley, and NNSWF’s Newcastle-based Chief Executive Officer David Eland have told Ms Saffin their organisations feel the project had huge potential benefits for football.

These officials were particularly impressed that the concept of accommodating, educating and training future elite players, coaches and administrators, had been embraced by a regional university with established links to the Asia Pacific, and that it had Federal, State and local government support.

Ms Saffin said once a Heads of Agreement and terms of reference were signed off on, the study would focus national attention on what a working party was trying to achieve for emerging soccer nations within the 46-member Asian Football Confederation and the Pacific Islands.

“Southern Cross University has commissioned its Head of Sports Business Unit, Graduate College of Management, Dr Dave Arthur, to lead the study, and he will report back to a project committee, chaired by myself,” she said.

“Other key members of that committee are SBS football commentator Craig Foster, who had the original vision for an institute; SCU’s Executive Director (Corporate Services) Malcolm Marshall; and Football Far North Coast General Manager Steve Mackney, whose local knowledge and professionalism have been invaluable.

“I know from our meetings with SCU Chancellor, John Dowd, that he is very committed to the project as well.”

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The damage was done by NSW Metro’s Anthony Proia, who scored a hat-trick of goals, the first in the 45th minute, followed by a second on the 60-minute mark and his third close to full-time in the 70th minute.

The pressure of the final took its toll on the Northern NSW, side who all week have been unaccustomed to being on the losing side of the scoresheet.

Northern’s Reece Coleman, Oscar Torres and Michael Finlayson all received yellow cards in the intense final, culminating in a disappointing end to the championships for Reece Coleman, who left the field following a second yellow card in the 70th minute.

Under 15 final: NSW Metro 3 (A Proia 45’/60’/70’) v Northern NSW 0.

Under 14 final: NSW Metro 0 – Victoria Metro 2 (J Buceto 16’; D Murnane 50’).

In their final match, the Northern NSW Under 14s were defeated 3-1 by Football West in their play-off for 5th/6th place.

Despite an early goal in the first minute by Northern’s Jacob Montgomery, Northern NSW were held scoreless for the remainder of match, unable to answer a fight back from Football West that saw goals in the 36th, 44th and 52nd minute.

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In an intense match at BCU International Stadium at Coffs Harbour, the Northern NSW side withstood a continued attack by Victoria Metro in today’s second semi-final but the team’s defence held strong, with the winning goal from the Northern NSW side coming from Lake Macquarie’s Dominic Bizzarri in the 42nd minute.

The Northern NSW side will now face NSW Metro, who defeated South Australia 3-1 in the first semi-final this morning.

The highly anticipated National Championship final between the two ‘intrastate’ rivals will kick-off tomorrow at 11am.

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After a rest day on Tuesday, the team stepped on to the park without losing any momentum from their matches earlier in the week, with the first goal by Sapphire Beach’s Ryan Cole scored in the 10th minute.

A stunned Northern Territory side regrouped after the early goal and provided some solid defence against the Northern attack.

However, the relentless push by Northern paid dividends in the 38th minute when Newcastle’s Patrick Brown scored the first of a hat-trick of goals, his second coming just 3 minutes later (41st minute) and his third in the 55th minute.

Cole and Brown were joined on the scoresheet by Port Macquarie’s Paddy Coelho (52nd minute), Valentine’s Dominic Bizzarri (63rd minute) and Newcastle’s Terry Surjan (69th minute).

In the Under 14s, Northern NSW met Queensland Country and got their Nationals campaign back on track with a 2-0 win, with goals to Newcastle’s Levi Charlesworth in the 11th minute and Nicholas Cowburn in the 60th minute.

In Day 6 action today, the Northern NSW Under 15 and Under 14s sides will both come up against Victoria Country.

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