Jim Roberts
Jim Roberts, the father of Australia futsal, was inducted into the Capital Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
Jim Roberts has had a lifetime of association with football across all facets of the game, a professional playing career, and coaching at all levels, culminating in three consecutive FIFA Futsal World Championship Finals (1992, 1996, and 2000).
Jim designed and implemented a very successful national and international futsal training program for athletes, coaches and officials, utilizing comprehensive international exchange programs to most parts of the world but with an emphasis on Brazil.
Alongside Charles Perkins, the civil rights activist who dedicated his life to achieving justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Jim also devised the first Aboriginal Futsal Cup, leading the first Australian Aboriginal futsal team in 1987.
In the 1990s, Roberts took over as the coach of the national futsal team, leading Australia to the 1992 FIFA Futsal World Cup finals in Hong Kong, the first qualification-based World Cup the sport had seen, where Australia finished 13th.
He went on to lead the national side to the next two FIFA Futsal World Cups, where they finished 14th and 15th, proving that Australia was a futsal country. Jim went on to implement five nationally televised national leagues for futsal between 1988 and 1995 and was an official delegate to the first FIFA Congress on Futsal in Guatemala in 2000.
His undying passion for the game saw him receive an Australian Sports Medal in 2000, awarded for his contribution to the development of sport and recreation in the ACT. His contribution to the development of futsal throughout the world was not missed by the CBFS (Brazilian Futsal Confederation), who also presented him with an achievement award.
In 2010, he was inducted into the ACT Sport Hall of Fame and Capital Football’s Hall of Fame.
