A trio of Middlesbrough futsal players are set to travel to Serbia 2010 this weekend to take part in the 2010 World University Futsal Championship. Robbie Bettson, Mikey Roberts and Jason Kilbride and were all included in Michael Skubala’s final 12 man squad.
Current Boro captain Jason Kilbride, said: “It’s a great honour to have been selected for the team.
“It has always been a dream of mine to represent my country and when I was given the chance to trial and have that opportunity I grabbed it with two hands.
“It’s one of the biggest futsal competitions in the world, so to be part of it is amazing.”
Robbie Bettson finished last season as Boro’s top goalscorer in the league with 20 goals, while Mikey Roberts was the top scorer for Teesside University in their BUCS triumph and also received the player of the tournament award.
Team GB will take on the 2006 champions Russia, the 2008 runners up Ukraine, and Oman.
Kilbride added: “The tournament is going to be tough as a lot of the teams have international players and staff.
“But we have been working hard together as a team and we go in to the tournament with the belief that we can do well.
“Futsal is still developing in this country and with the help of the FA and National league we can perform now and in years to come at the top level. Our group is tough with previous finalists and champions but they way we have worked as a team so far can only stand us in good stead for the challenges ahead.” Team GB have finished 14th and 15th previously in the competition.
The team trained in Northampton recently and Kilbride believes that the training camp will benefit the player’s domestic form as well as preparing them for the tournament. “The organisation has been second to none. he said.
“We have had a training camp in Northampton and moulded as a team.
“It’s good to learn different styles of play and tactics and it develops us as a team as well as individually. We will all have learnt so much, which we can take back to our teams.”
Boro have had a player in each of the World Championships since 2006. Former Boro stars Ben Mortlock played in Poland in 2006, scoring two goals and Curt Holmes was Great Britain’s goalkeeper in Slovenia in 2008 and now Bettson, Kilbride and Roberts will continue the proud tradition, representing the club in Serbia 2010.
First published on http://borofutsal.com/ on 19-08-10
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