SUB Football, the seven a side brand of summer soccer which is already played by thousands of people in New Zealand, has started to gain a foothold in Australia. The sport has been picked up in Melbourne with around 240 individuals playing.
SUB Football, which was invented by Aucklander Bill Davies in 1998, is a summer sport, with seven players on the field and an unlimited number of substitutes. Competitions are held for mixed teams in Australia. In a mixed team, the goalkeeper may be male or female but no more than three male outfield players are permitted.
Shay Ferguson, who was recently recruited as SUB Football Venue Operations Manager for Melbourne believes that there is huge scope to develop the game in Australia.
‘It is early days for SUB Football in Australia but I think the growth potential is fantastic, both within Melbourne and throughout the rest of the country,’ says Shay. ‘It’s a unique, very inclusive sport that seems to appeal to all sorts of people from businesses to friends wanting to form teams together. The fact that men and women can play against each other or on the same team is also proving very popular. You don’t get that same level of diversity in most other sports.’
According to Shay, interest in the game is growing steadily.
‘Lots of people walk past the pitches when we’re playing at Fawkner Park and ask what’s going on and how they can get involved,’ explains Shay. ‘I think that will only continue to increase as we get into the summer season, which kicked off at the end of October, and start to do some more promotional work. It’s a hugely innovative, exciting concept and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for it in Australia.’
SUB Football is played on a pitch which measures 60 x 40 metres and games are 40 minutes duration. Players get three points for scoring in the main goal while hitting one of the sideboards is worth one point. There are four divisions, meaning that the game can cater to a wide range of ability, experience and fitness. The season runs until early March with a mid-season break between mid December and mid January.
For more information on SUB Football, visit http://www.subfootball.com/
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