Australian futsal representative Blake Potter is now taking on the UK’s biggest football academies
This Mackay teen represented Australia in Spain in a sport he’d been playing for less than a year, now he’s in the UK experiencing some of the world’s biggest football academies. Discover his incredible journey.
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Screams, tears of joy, or simply pure ecstasy.
All reasonable reactions when you find you’ve been picked to represent your country.
But when 13-year-old Blake Potter was summoned to his mum’s room to read an email saying he’d been selected to represent Australia in futsal, he simply went back to bed nonplussed.
“I didn’t feel like it was real because I didn’t have any information on it,” said Potter.
“I was tired I was like ‘nah it’s fake’, and went back to bed.
“It wasn’t until a couple of the boys at school were talking about it and I was like ‘ah, it is real’.”
Potter’s selection in the national futsal team was a remarkable feat given he’d only played the sport for a matter of months.
It was a foray that began when his name was put forward to represent Mackay State High School in a Whitsunday schools competition.
“I thought I might get to the Queensland side and compete there, that’s what I thought the end goal would’ve been,” reflected Potter on his expected futsal progression.
But he would go one step further, impressing for Queensland at the national titles to earn a ticket with the Australian Schoolboys team.
“I’d never played the sport, didn’t think anything of it, and then a year later I was in Spain,” mused Potter.
With 64 teams competing, the Australian side would finish third in their group but win their playoff placing game.
The team also played friendlies against a number of local Barcelona sides.
“It was really good, I didn’t expect it to be as hard as the competition was,” said Potter.
“The kids, even though they were small, they were physical and fast, it was really strong competition.”
“I’ve really been into (futsal) since then, I really like it.”
Despite his new-found passion, Potter’s first love was the outdoor variation of the round-ball game.
“I like the open space on the field,” he said.
“But being a futsal player improves my first touch and movement on the ball as well.”
Remarkably, for the second time this year, Potter has jetted to the football-obsessed shores of Europe to ply his trade as part of Magic Group’s academy program.
Magic Group is a Melbourne - where Potter’s originally from - and Gold Coast-based football organisation that fields an FQPL2 men’s side and FQPL women’s side.
The academy has embarked on a UK tour throughout December that will see Potter and his team take on the academies of Swansea, Bournemouth, Newport County, Chelsea and Wales.
The team’s first match came against Cardiff City’s academy, and they walked away with a resounding 4-1 win.
“I can’t wait,” Potter said before the trip.
“We do a massive training day with the Wales head coach, there’s going to be scouts there.”
A defensively-minded player, Potter calls the centre back and central defensive midfield positions home.
Next season he’s poised to line up for Mackay Lions U15 premier side, but he understandably has high ambitions for his future.
“I want to make it pro for outdoor football,” he said.
“Hopefully play in the Premier League, that would be good.”
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