Having been involved in futsal for nearly a decade and part of the Auckland squad for the last three years, Dayna Manak is well placed to give her thoughts on the progress of the country’s premier female tournament in that time.

The Futsal Fern says the standard of the national competition, now rebranded to the Women’s Futsal SuperLeague, has been rapidly increasing every year as female futsal in New Zealand experiences exponential growth.

“I came in quite a while ago, it would’ve been a good ten years now,” she recalls.

“We started quite small so I’m stoked with how it’s come out and progressed, the standard now is so much higher. At first we were really just kicking a ball around on a court but now we’re actually getting into strategies and creating more futsal movements – it’s great.”

The only potential downside to the rise in quality from Auckland’s point of view is that it will now be harder than ever for the defending champions to retain their title. Under the expert tutelage of coach Nic Downes, a star-studded Auckland squad will look to do so over three days from this Friday at the ASB Sports Centre in Wellington.

As reigning champions, Manak is expecting her side to have a target on its back but is relishing the challenge.

“From speaking to the other teams at previous nationals, I know they’re always keen to beat us,” she says.

“It does add a bit more pressure but we’re feeling confident going in and are looking forward to it. We’ve had a long build up – we’ve been training since October of last year – and are creating some new things which we’re all excited to try out.”

A quick glance at the line-up available to Downes, who is also the Futsal Ferns national team coach, reveals why Auckland are held in such high regard. Downes has welcomed back the majority of last year’s championship-winning side, along with a few new additions. Fixo Caitlin Pritchard is taking part in her first SuperLeague campaign with the federation while Abby Murphy and Maisy Dewell return after missing the previous campaign.

Downes will be without the services of the influential Hannah Kraakman and Annie Byrne – who are both recovering from long-term injuries – but has no shortage of quality to call on in their absence. Along with Manak, five other Auckland players were named by Downes in the most recent Futsal Ferns squad, namely captain Maxine Cooper, Shivanthi Anthony, Jess Verdon, Tessa Leong and goalkeeper Danielle Bradley.

A number of other squads also have a sprinkling of international experience though and Manak is expecting at least a couple of strong challenges.

“Canterbury are looking quite good, they’ve named a strong squad which will be great competition and we’re excited to play them. Capital is always good, they have a couple of Futsal Ferns in their team as well so both of them will be strong teams I think.”

A highly-competitive inaugural Women’s Futsal SuperLeague would be a very welcome development as female futsal continues to go from strength-to-strength is this country. While there is currently no World Cup on offer, FIFA have made their intentions of establishing a global competition clear and New Zealand appears well placed for a shot at glory when that day finally arrives.

Manak has so far been a key figure in the early years of the Futsal Ferns, who have won all of their games on the international stage. A clean sweep of New Caledonia in 2017 was followed by a title-winning performance in the Gold Coast International Futsal Challenge – which pitched the national team against Australian regional outfits – last month, laying the foundations for what will hopefully prove a fruitful period.

“The whole experience has been amazing,” Manak says.

“The first series against New Caledonia was a really good start for us and then going over and competing in Australia, where the competition was a bit better, was amazing as well. It’s looking good and hopefully we can keep that momentum up and keep playing some good teams,” she adds.

“A World Cup is the end goal for us and we’re just hoping it comes around sooner rather than later.”

You can watch Dayna Manak and many other Futsal Ferns in action in the Women’s Futsal SuperLeague, which takes place at the ASB Sports Centre in Wellington from 15-17 Feb.

For the draw, results and other information please click here

Article added: Wednesday 13 February 2019