Under-19 teams across the region wrapped up the year at the 2020 East Coast school futsal titles on November 18.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Originally planned for April and then September, players finally hit the court as schools from Tamworth, Armidale, Coffs Harbour, Taree, Wauchope and Port Macquarie competed.
Tournament director Mick Day said it provided a chance for under-19 students to represent their schools one final time.
"In the under-19 boys the testosterone was flying because for them this is their last hurrah," he said.
Day was satisfied to see his hard work rewarded, although the competition was run in a different format to previous years in order to comply with COVIDsafe regulations.
"We had to make changes daily and stay on top of things all the time to produce the tournament," he said.
"All schools needed approval from the Department of Education so we had to have things in place and passed so there was a lot of work involved."
Game lengths were cut from the usual 40 minutes to 20 minutes with a 10-minute window between games, allowing teams to play and then leave straight away.
But these changes allowed the competition to proceed and be one of the few school-based futsal events in the state.
"Queensland had their own little bubble, but this would be the only one held anywhere from Newcastle to the Queensland border." Day said.
The week-long event ends on Friday with the under-11 and under-12 boys and girls matches at Port Macquarie Indoor Stadium.