Stu Hatton - Blast Ultra Plus

Five Minutes With...Stu Hatton

Full name: Stu Hatton

Otherwise known as: Wordy

Team: Blast Ultra Plus (Carlton North) / Goal on Goal Action! (Glen Iris)

Position: I'm happy to play anywhere, although I'm not so keen on playing in goal.

Competition/league: Carlton North Tues / Glen Iris Thurs (both mixed).

Futsal career highlights: Any victory is a highlight (there haven't been all that many in recent times!)

Futsal career lowlights: I missed a good chance in the final minute a couple of weeks ago, which would've drawn us level - but I hit the post and we lost 7-6!

I’m not that good at futsal, but you should see me play: n/a

Funniest/strangest thing you’ve seen at a futsal match?: I remember a girl had 'The Pants' as the name on the back of her shirt. Then there was a guy who had the symbol for Pi instead of a number.

Funniest team mate: Would have to be either Karyn or Nadja. Both have the ability to crack everyone up and lighten the mood.

Greatest rival team (who’s your biggest league rival): That's a tough one. I'd have to say the Mutts, because we've been playing against them forever, and never come close to beating them! They're a class act.

What do you do for a living?: I'm a writer and editor. I teach writing and editing at Deakin Uni. I also do some research work.

Tell us something we don’t know about you: The first thing I do every morning is sit and meditate.

Peter Liakatos - Shooting Stars

Five minutes with...Peter Liakatos

Full name: Peter Liakatos

Otherwise known as: Bumblebee

Team: Shooting Stars

Position: Goalkeeper

Competition/league: Collingwood Mixed League

Futsal career highlights: Eight grand final wins before losing one. Going a whole season undefeated.

Futsal career lowlights: Losing my first grand final after winning the first eight! Never winning a man of the match in a final despite receiving a special mention for my performance in every single final.

I'm not that good at futsal, but you should see me play: Futsal. That and playing musical instruments are the only things I'm good at.

Funniest/strangest thing you've seen at a futsal match?: Referee kick a swish into the basketball hoop from halfway and watching a team-mate score a goal with his bum.

Funniest team mate: Brian. When you play the game with someone for six years straight you get used to their quirks. We call him Killer-B because he is the most placid guy you will ever meet off the court.

Greatest rival team: Was Big Red but now no one.

What do you do for a living?: Internal Auditor for National Australia Bank

Tell us something we don’t know about you: I got my first full time corporate job before I was 21.

Michael Franco - Azzurri 06

Five Minutes With...Michael Franco

Full name: Michael James Franco

Otherwise known as: Franco

Team: Azzurri 06

Position: defender, midfielder

Competition/league: Endeavour Hills

Futsal career highlights: Touring Brazil with the Under 16's Australian Futsal Team

Futsal career lowlights: Losing grand final because of a own goal by teammate

I’m not that good at futsal, but you should see me play: Aussie Rules......go Sainters!!!!!

Funniest/strangest thing you’ve seen at a futsal match?: Watching our goalkeeper Cojo do his work... he's not gifted with much coordination, but he does the job

Funniest team mate: Robbie Gal.. you never know what he's gonna do next

Greatest rival team: Setanta FC and Esteghlal

What do you do for a living?: Student

Tell us something we don’t know about you: I'm a big Real Madrid fan...we're gonna win the treble now with Kaka and Ronaldo!

Angelos Tsitsilas - Cesar

Five Minutes With...Angelos Tsitsilas

Full name: Angelos Tsitsilas

Otherwise known as: Ange

Team: CESAR

Position: Goalkeeper

Competition/league: Preston Mixed (Tuesday nights)

Futsal career highlights: A couple of weeks ago I scored a really long-range goal.  I rolled the ball to myself and cracked it from about half way within my back half of the court.  Players from both teams were obstructing the goalkeeper's view of me and the ball hit the back of the net before he could blink!

Futsal career lowlights:  None yet, we've only just really started.  If I have to say, a few weeks ago we almost beat the top team.

I'm not that good at futsal, but you should see me play: I have some good jokes to say.

Funniest/strangest thing you've seen at a futsal match?: A couple of weeks ago we lost 6-3 to the second team, but Lauren (in our team) kicked all 3 of our goals.  The funny thing is that she has no soccer background, but she not only kicked 1 but 2 freak goals in the same game (very rare).  Both of the goals were kicked from the kickoff (centre) after the opposition scored.  The first
she kicked low, and it just missed the wall and slipped in the bottom left corner just missing the post.  The last she kicked high, and again
just missed the wall and dipped down just missing both post and crossbar on the top right.  The nimble guy goalkeeping was neither very impressed nor happy for being beaten like that twice on the night.  She also scored the third goal by slipping it under his diving attempt.

Funniest team mate: Probably Bryant.  He hasn't got a soccer background and neither any confidence, but he scores some goals occasionally (one was a ripping header).

Greatest rival team: We've only started, but I like playing the good teams, so I'd have to say Slightly Hung Over.

What do you do for a living?  Research assistant in applied biology.

Tell us something we don't know about you:  I have a Greek background and can speak Greek. I love animals, even spiders which I study.  I like to kayak, read, watch movies and play soccer.

Anthony Cahill - Blouses

Five Minutes With...Anthony Cahill

Full name: Anthony Cahill

Otherwise known as: "Anth", and "that cute boy who I've got a secret crush on".

Team: Blouses, and formally Bukowski FC

Position: Frustrated Goalkeeper, with a penchant for leaving the box to go for ill timed runs (occasionally they come off!). 

Competition/league: Wednesday night mixed competition, Carlton North.

Futsal career highlights: Scoring the winner on the extra time buzzer in our final a couple seasons back. Corker!

Futsal career lowlights: When people get aggro on the court. It's a social comp for goodness sake, not Israel versus Palestine.

I’m not that good at futsal, but you should see me play: I am pretty handy at futsal without possessing great skills, but am a natural at Australian football.

Funniest/strangest thing you’ve seen at a futsal match?: Playing in the mixed comp on Wednesday night is a blast. People of all levels of ability play, it's a very friendly fun vibe, and yep, it's great to play with girls!

Funniest team mate: Joel Zika Esquire the Third. He orders the team around. Talks trash to the opposition. All in a half humourous, half deadly serious way. Priceless.

Greatest rival team: We often seem to come up against the Polka Dots in the finals and generally beat them. Poor polkie folkies. Their new tops look sharp though.

What do you do for a living? Park Ranger for Parks Victoria

Tell us something we don’t know about you: I love playing sport. More than anything else in life, I love it. Hell, when I go to bed at night, I think about playing sport whilst lying there. Know what I mean?