JARVIS Dennes jets off to Italy on Monday for a three week tour with the Australian All Schools futsal team.
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The Australians will play matches against academy sides in Rome, Florence and Naples. Jarvis, 15, gained selection in the touring squad following trials played at Brisbane late last year.
He is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana.
Jarvis said he is eagerly counting down the days until he hopes on the plane.
“We haven’t received our final itinerary yet, but I think we’ll be playing about 12 games,’’ he said.
He as a member of a NSW side that went to Brisbane for the selection trials to make the national team.
Jarvis thought he played ‘pretty well’ in the eight games.
“I thought I was an okay chance,’’ he replied when asked if he had done enough to earn a spot in the touring party. As players come from all parts of the country, the squad hasn’t had a training run together yet, although Jarvis reasons there’ll be plenty of time for that when they arrive in Italy.
Jarvis plays in the Manning futsal competition, starting about seven years ago. As is usually the way with these things, he was introduced to the sport through football. During summer Jarvis plays futsal four times a week, while he is restricted to two matches during winter. He has represented the Manning in the national championships held in Sydney each January.
He enjoys the frantic pace of futsal, describing it as a technical game.
However, he has no preference between the traditional form of the code and its indoor cousin.
Jarvis started playing football in the Tinonee junior grades in the Football Mid North Coast’s southern competitions.
However, this year he is turning out with the Football Mid North Coast under 18s in the National Premier League, where he is one of the youngest players in the team.
Jarvis plays either as a striker or in the midfield.
It’s been a frustrating start to the season for FMNC, with three matches hit by wild weather.
“We had one called off because of extreme heat and another because of rain,’’ he said.
“Then 16 minutes into last week’s game it was called off because of lightning strikes.’’
Jarvis concedes the league has been a learning curve for the FMNC players.
“It’s a bit of a step-up,’’ he said.
It’s also a bit commitment for players and their families. Training started before Christmas, with the competition running until September. Jarvis will miss a couple of games while he’s in Italy, but he thinks that’s a pretty good excuse.
