Back in 1997/98 David Rutner and Zvi Ben David had a setup which allowed Jewish kids to play Futsal at a competitive level,

There were 2 age groups, men and youth and was mainly made up of North Shore and Eastern Suburbs players.

Back then there was only one official competition but the Maccabi teams were strong in both age groups which allowed a our players to be selected for national youth call-ups in Dale Levin Gareth Naar and Earl Dresener, Graham Kaplan & Adam Schwartz.

For a few years that was all there was then the group decided to enter the 2005. Back in 05 the team was Slava Platkov, Ami Schwartz, Adam Wakerman, Doron Pozniak, Adam Schwartz ©, Graham Kaplan, Daniel Nadel Zvi Ben david, John Myers & Dale Levin.

The first game was against GB (ranked 4th) which the Aussie boys won 4-3 in the most epic of matches played at a Maccabiah. In the 2nd game we lost to Switzerland and then finally to France to be knocked out. From that moment John Myers took control of the club and made it into the force that we see today.

Back in Australia John Myers went in partnership with the Greater Western Sydney Vikings Futsal Club. He used this as a setup for the players to play in the Super League in NSW. It was in the first season where the boys learnt a lot about futsal and most games were lost, but in the 2nd season the men’s team made the final only to lose it after being 2-1 up because Daniel Nadel was sent off half way through the 2nd half.

Players came and went throughout the years but young players came through such as Jordan Mundell, Paul Meltz, Andy Kanchik, Sam Kettler, Sam Benda and Jimmy Nadel along with some new coaching faces in Scott Gilligan and Simon Kieth. The quality of these players and coaches allowed the team to compete in overseas competitions, such as in Portugal in 2008 and Rome (2009 Maccabi Euros). With Managers like Brett Levin at the helm the team had everything it needed to succeed in future years.

Finally the Maccabi Futsal Club was setup and entered into the Football NSW State League competition. With quality coaches and players, a team was created that could potentially win things and with that came some new signings in Simon Keith, Denny Dutra and Daniel Fulton. All three added class to the then Maccabi setup and this team would go onto win the Super League, the NZ National League and the F-League. (see amazing teams)

It wad around the time of the second Maccabiah, in 2009 that the new players started to turn heads. Players like Jarrod Basger and his brother Dylan, Matt and Brett Rosenberg as well Adam Freidman. New additions that added some flare to an aging team but were very welcome at the time. Jarrod Basger wasn’t selected for the Maccabiah in 2009 as Simon Kieth went for a more experienced side with the likes of Lev Lewis and Anthony Tow now spearheading the team.

The 2009 Maccabiah futsal team made it to the QF – the first time a football discipline for Australia attending the games had ever made. They lost to the past champions Russia in extra time but cemented the team as a force to be reckoned with.

(Photo Competing in Israel in 2009)

After this time Steven Knight had taken charge and there was a shift in the team dynamics as well as the captaincy which was given to Doron Pozniak. The spell would prove to be the best in the clubs history as Pozniak went onto captain the team to two Super League titles, the NZ national Title, an F-League title, two Maccabiah Quarter Finals, Asian Champions League qualifiers in Vietnam and of course the pinnacle a European Maccabiah Gold Medal in Vienna.

It was that Gold Medal winning performance that made everyone stand up and take note. The team which was comprised of John Myers, Dale Levin, Lev Lewis, Matty Rosenberg, Anthony Tow, Sam Benda, Jarrod Basger Dean Ginsberg and Jordi Mundell. Beat Lithuania in the most dramatic of finals 6-4. A proud moment for the club that started back in 1997.

Photo Competing in Berlin in 2015 European Maccabiah Competition Silver medalists

After returning from Israel the Club had a change in management. The men’s team needed to be rebuilt as the original players were starting to “age out of the team” and the rest of the Club needed to be restructured so that we would have strong junior teams feeding our older teams players. We needed to develop our coaching staff, provide pathways for our players, attempt to get in the Premier League division one competition and start building relationships with overseas clubs. With the overseas Clubs would go on tour, exchange players and possibly even get top level coaches to run camps for us.

The Club had two strokes of real luck. Two Australian Futsalroos joined its mens team and one of the best coaches in Australia agreed to Coach its under 12’s team. That year the Club went from 9th position to 3rd with both our men and our U12’s being undefeated. The following year the Club came fourth, then second then last year, finally the Club won the Premier League two competition

In the same year our men went back to Maccabiah beating the Brazilians in what turned out to be there semi final only to fall to an amazing Argentinian team. This was however the first time any Australian team had won a medal at a Maccabiah.