GQ Elephants end second in futsal playoffs
In their first attempt in the National Futsal League regional playoffs, the Gqeberha Elephants surprised pundits when they finished second in the Western Cape-Eastern Cape regional tournament.
The indoor event, which took place at the LH Cares Complex in Cape Town recently, saw the GQ Elephants bag six points from three matches, having won two games and lost one.
Winners the Western Cape Spears beat them by just one point, winning two matches and drawing one.
The newly formed GQ Elephants will now fly Nelson Mandela Bay’s flag high at the National Futsal League knockout Tournament taking place in Gauteng in September.
The regional playoffs, which started in mid-March and finished earlier this month, were played in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Western Cape.
Because the GQ Elephants is the only Eastern Cape team taking part in the tournament, it was included in the Western Cape region.
Coach Elrio van Heerden, 39, said he was thrilled with the Elephants’ performance considering that this was their first competitive event.
The former Copenhagen and Blackburn Rovers midfielder said playing futsal was a huge adjustment for his players, who had to contend with different rules and play on a hard surface, instead of turf.
“Reaching the final for us in our first futsal tournament was a big thing for us as GQ,” Van Heerden said.
“For an Eastern Cape side, winning our first game drew a lot of [attention] and it was very important for us to achieve that so that we can have a foot in the door.
“Knowing how important futsal is, as GQ we want to use the sport as part of soccer development for the young boys in the Bay. If you look at South American countries, how they breathe and live futsal at a young age to improve the players.”
Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court such as a basketball court, smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors.
Each side has five players, including the goalkeeper, but teams can make rolling substitutions whenever they wish.
The coach said because of its intensity, futsal was even more demanding than the normal 90-minute football game.
He said it had two halves of just 20 minutes each.
“If I am speaking on the development of a player and you have to look at the fundamentals it’s physically and physiologically demanding because the ball is constantly moving for the players.
“As a coach, I am very excited because I know that this can be something big and I am also excited for the youth players — the sooner they get involved the better it will be for us.”
GQ Elephants chair Mark Tommy said he was pleased that their five-year plan had been realised.
Tommy, who is also the sport manager for football and chess at the Madibaz, said he was happy to be working with people who shared the same vision, which was to grow futsal in the Bay, but most importantly use the sport to develop grassroots soccer.
“Gqeberha Elephants is a journey that took the better part of five years.
“It started with a plan or a version that myself and Elrio van Heerden shared in terms of how we can create another level or a platform for our young players to come through and to be groomed more cognitively around the technicalities of the game, that will ultimately make them a better soccer player and person.
“We then took this route of making the application to Saifa (The South African Indoor Football Association), which is an associate member of Safa, and we were successful.”
He said it was important that the club established a footprint at a national level so it could stimulate the growth of indoor soccer in the city.
“I think the last time indoor soccer was played in Nelson Mandela Bay was somewhere around 2004.
“GQ Elephants are now in the National Futsal League.
“We have had one tournament under our belt in which we did very well. We ended second in the Western CapeEastern Cape leg.
“The intention now is to grow the game and go into the schools,” Tommy said.