JARROD Linger is a natural leader.
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So much so the 16-year-old has been named Australian vice-captain for the under-17 International Futsal Alliance world cup in Scotland next month.
Linger and the North-West Coast’s Dom Smith are the only two Tasmanians selected in a 14-strong Australian squad.
“It’s a great opportunity, I’m pretty honoured,” Linger said on Friday.
The St Patrick’s College student attended several training camps in New South Wales in preparation for the international tournament that will feature world-wide outfits playing at the Dundee International Sports Centre.
Each team will play five games with the top two in each group progressing to semi-finals.
“We’ve had some pretty hectic days where we’ve spent 16 hours training flat out,” he said.
“It’s been a really good experience so far – it’s been fabulous.”
Linger said he is most looking forward to playing against the world’s best futsal players.
The Launceston City Northern Championship and Tasmanian Premier League right-winger said the indoor sport was slowing growing in popularity in Tasmania.
“It’s not as big as football and soccer but there is a social league in Launceston, a couple in Hobart and more up Devonport way,” he said.
“When you tell people that people that you play futsal, they say ‘what’s that?’ and when you tell them about it and they experience it they generally like it.
“It’s really fast paced and it takes a lot of skill and knowledge of the game to understand movements, rotations and when and when not to run.”
It’s really fast paced and it takes a lot of skill and knowledge of the game to understand movements, rotations and when and when not to run.
- Jarrod Linger
Both Linger and Smith were picked in the squad following a trial of the nation’s top 35 players earlier in the year. Linger is also a member of the Tasmanian men’s futsal team and played in the state’s under-16 team at the national championships in Sydney.
The squad leave for Newcastle on Sunday for a training camp before arriving in Scotland on September 2.