The New Zealand University Futsal championship was held in Christ church and it featured some of the hot futsal players in New Zealand. The reigning champions, Victoria University were amongst the favorite to win the tournament but the unpredictable Auckland University claimed the champion’s seat after beating Victoria University 4:2 in a thrilling grand final. The University of Waikato who were one of the promising teams in the tournament were knocked out in the Semi-final by the eventual winners Auckland University by a 5:4 score line. In this prestigious futsal championship, three players for Waikato not only fly the University of Waikato flag but also their country’s flag. The Solomon Islands students were very instrumental in getting their team to the semi-final as they continued to shine in the Waikato colors. Steneth Kaniki who is a third year Law and Politics Student played a target man role for the team and set up a lot of their goals. Emmanuel Pitakaka who plays a pivot role along with Rayans Helehahimae who is the only goalkeeper in the team both study Law and economics. These third-year university students have definitely taken their short holiday break to fly the University’s flag and also their country flag of Solomon Islands.
In an interview with Steneth Kaniki, he said, “It was a good futsal tournament and as Solomon Islanders, we’re proud to be playing between some of the best New Zealand futsal players.” The humble Western and part Choiseul lad is one of the most influential players in the team and coach Dominic O'Sullivan was all but praised for the Solomon Islander. Emmanuel and Rayans also showed some exceptional futsal skills on the court as Rayans was regarded as one of the top goalkeepers in the tournament. The university of Waikato team logistic manager Megan Rose also expressed her disappointment in the team unfortunate knockout in the semi-finals but also said the team played exceptionally well and if it weren’t for one of the key players being suspended, the result could have gone the other way. The University of Waikato futsal team finished fourth overall after losing to Canterbury in the 3rd and 4th play off but got a lot of acclamation from the futsal fans who were present during the tournament.
Solomon Islands at the moment is faced with a lot of issues in regards to government and the society but these Solomon Islanders continued to fly the Solomon flag in the game of futsal for all futsal lovers in New Zealand to see. Indeed, they are the true ambassadors of Solomon Islands. The three boys are now enjoying their two weeks break before resuming the remaining weeks in semester A.
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