The duo have been playing futsal at Northern for…well, between two and three years. In that time they have formed a formidable partnership that is highly intuitive, as evidenced by their performance at August’s OFC Futsal Championship Invitational.
“I think in all team sports you need to know your teammates well, but especially in futsal because it’s only four other players.” says Kamri.
“If you have a good relationship with the players, if you enjoy playing with them, it makes things easier.
“And I think me and Jan, we have this, we enjoy playing futsal together and we get along off the court too.”
What makes this pairing more unique is the fact is the father/son element of their relationship.
At 18 years old Fischer clocks in as the youngest member of the current Futsal Whites squad, while at 22 years his senior, Kamri sits at the opposite end of the scale.
“He’s like a father to me,” jokes Fischer.
“He’s 18, I could be his father,” Kamri replies.
Both players know they seem like an odd couple, but neither seem bothered.
“We talk a lot outside of games as well,” Fischer says of the unlikely friendship that has blossomed.
And it’s not all futsal, we talk about a lot of different things together.”
But it’s on the court that we really see this friendship flourish.
At the OFC Futsal Championship Invitational the majority of the pair’s goals were set up by one and scored by the other, proving Kamri’s theory that knowing your teammates and enjoying playing with them is almost as important in futsal as having the technical skills to play the game.
“He’s very keen to learn, always asking how to do stuff, how to be better – not only of me but of other futsal players.
“I guess that’s how we started communicating a lot and how this relationship started,” Kamri says of the early days.
“It started at NFF, he scored a lot of goals that I passed to him and vice versa. I know where he will be and he knows where I will be in the field.”
While it didn’t start that way, over the two-three years they’ve been playing domestic and international futsal together they’ve worked their way towards this relationship.
Kamri is incredibly generous when he describes the qualities of his younger counterpart.
“Jan in my point-of-view will be the next best futsal player in New Zealand and the next captain,” he enthuses.
“He’s very smart. He knows how to move on the court and he understands futsal very well. He’s evolving and progressing a lot.”
Kamri even goes so far as to credit Fischer as one of the best technical players in the Futsal Whites.
“In futsal you need to be very quick, be very good technically and be smart – understand the game. He’s got that.”
Fischer is equally enthusiastic about Kamri and what he can offer to the game.
“He has the experience to do things that I would never dare to try I guess,” he begins, “like dribbling, just knowing what the other player is going to do. Being able to predict the game, which I guess comes with a lot of experience.
“Holding the ball and knowing when someone’s going to dive in and dragging it to the side at the right moment.”
And Fischer is right to draw on Kamri’s experience with the 40-year-old having grown up learning the tricks of the trade in Morocco before continuing to play and develop his style in New Zealand after moving here in 2008.
And having a mentor in the national squad has really helped the young player’s confidence in what can be an intimidating environment for someone still attending high school.
“I kind of feel accepted now, which to be honest I didn’t feel that comfortable with all the boys when I first started playing in the Futsal Whites two years ago,” Fischer explains.
“But now I feel I have the respect of everyone and from everyone now. There’s no real conflict in the team, everyone is good friends and it’s just a good environment to be playing in I guess.
“But you obviously have to go through that phase which I did quite well I think. I feel I’m part of a team and just accepted by everyone and they trust me a bit more. Not fully yet, but getting there slowly.”
And with his father-figure Kamri behind him all the way, it won’t be long before Fischer feels like a fully-fledged member of the squad.