Courtesy: Come on Boro


WHAT THE FUTSAL?

by Elle Brunton

14 February 2009

Futsal is an indoor version of five a side football supported by FIFA and UEFA. The game is played on a court with a less bouncy version of a football. It has its own rules including rolling substitutions and everyone attacks and defends. Futsal is best known among many football fans as a tool used in training to concentrate on technical ability and skills.

Following her first taste of futsal at the Legends charity tournament, ComeOnBoro.com's Elle Brunton decided to attend a training match to get the low down on the game in an exclusive interview with Middlesbrough Futsal Club's Chairman and manager Damon Shaw, and the team's top scorer Ryon Leyshon.

The team trains at Teesside University and on this ocassion, Damon was struggling to control his own players plus the students from the university team who were sharing the court.

DS: Right I'll just get the warm up started and then you can ask whatever you like.

Damon actually took part in the warm-up and this gave me the chance to observe the different exercises used. Some are the same as football warm ups, as you would expect, but there are also exercises focusing on upper body strength and stamina.

DS: Okay, what do you want to know?

EB: First the basics. Are all these players in the squad?

DS: No, the university team have a Championship game coming up so we are sharing our training session with them. We have fourteen regular players in the national league.

EB: Ah, so how many Boro futsal players are students?

DS: At the moment there are four players who are students but last year all the players were students, they all came from the university originally.

Our season starts on Sunday. The league splits into three - Northern League, Midlands and South - and the top two from each go through.

EB: How did the team do last season?

DS: We finished sixth last year. We started well and won our first few matches but we lost players when they graduated.

EB: And you are manager and chairman of the team and you do all the PR?

DS: Yes, I started the university club in 2005 and was manager then. Now I'm manager, chairman and PR. The treasurer is assistant manager.

Middlesbrough Futsal Club was founded in 2007. There were two clubs for a while but they evolved from one to the other.

EB: What made you decide to set up a futsal club?

DS: I used to run a five a side tournament in Blackburn where I'm from originally and as with everything I do, I did a lot of research and I came across futsal in the research. There were massive tournaments all over the place.

Then I thought it would be good to set up a team when I came back to uni.

In running my team, I found out about the FA Futsal Cup and once we got going, I saw that anyone could set up a football team but it takes too long to get anywhere. With futsal, in seven or eight matches you can get right to the top and that was quite an incentive to me.

EB: But all of your home matches are in Sheffield?

DS: Yes this season the home matches will be held in Sheffield. This year, only two matches are on Teesside. The other ten are in Sheffield.

EB: Do you get the same injuries in futsal as in football or is it different because of the court and the height restrictions?

DS: There are less injuries than in football but they are different injuries.

Hold on, I'll get the Physio, Rich.

RC: Physio for the club The most common are leg injuries but they are less serious because there are no slide tackles and less contact.

EB: And how is the club funded?

DS: We have a small sponsorship deal with Hertel but we are probably not in a position to fund our activities yet. However, it is something to look at.

At the moment we travel to Sheffield for the home matches and all the players chip in.

Eventually it will all be funded by sponsorship - I’m working on it!

EB: Yes, you were talking to Middlesbrough Football Club about a possible affiliation?

DS: We did have a constructive meeting with MFC and we might get further with them next year. They are all for local football and anything that might benefit them in the future, which it would do, with the players.

EB: And you have a link through Stewart Downing...

DS: Stewart Downing is honorary president. He gave his name to it which raises interest in us. It got us in Nuts magazine too!

As the interview has been going on, balls have been flying towards us as the no height restrictions rule means that there really is not a safe place to sit on a futsal court. Chances are that you are going to get hit with a ball as it rebounds off one of the walls. Think squash but with a football.

At one point, a ball misses my face by inches as Damon swats it away like a fly without even blinking, let alone pausing in his answers!

Slightly nervous of getting wacked in the head, I decide to talk to Ryon Leyshon. The rest of the team want to know why I'm interviewing him. His response? "Because I'm the best player!"

EB: Hi Ryon, so how did you get involved with the team?

RL: Through the university. You try out and if you qualify hopefully you might get through to have a go in the first team and see if it works out, which it did for me.

EB: Things are going well for you right now, Captain of the Boro team and you've just been called up to the England squad...

RL: Yes, I played the first match. It was supposed to be against Albania but they did not get their travel documents sorted so we ended up playing Tranmere instead. I only got to play for England for a couple of minutes but it felt good just to be there and training with them. Hopefully I'll play again.

EB: Some of the Legends were saying they could not weight their passes properly because they are used to footballs. Futsal balls are heavier, aren't they?

DS: Actually they aren't heavier, that is a common misconception, but they do bounce less.

RL: The balls are built for passing so if you are used to a normal football, it's not as good. Futsal encourages passing and movement, it is not about shooting from distance like football.

EB: What appeals to you about the game rather than eleven aside football or another sport?

RL: I do play other sports and I do still like football but for me, it is mostly because you are more involved in futsal.

It is all about the movement and the play. In football, there are long periods where you are doing nothing on the pitch. In futsal, you are always on the move, which suits my game.

It is a lot more dynamic. You can open up teams from defence to attack.

I think it is more exciting to watch because it is much faster. Bang - in the goal in one minute, whereas in football you can take an hour just to break the team down. Being a very fast player, that works for me.

EB: How often do you train?

RL: We train on Thursdays and sometimes Fridays because the games are on Sundays, so usually twice a week. But possibly on a Saturday as well from now on.

EB: What is the average age of futsal players? Is it the same as football?

RL: The teams we play against are very mixed. It is early stages in futsal so a lot of universities have young teams but teams in London, the best teams, have older players.

People think because there is a lot of running, you have to be really young and fit. There is a certain level of fitness obviously but it is something you can do until you are forty, easily.

EB: So the legends have no excuse [for their 9-3 hammering] really do they?

RL: Laughs No they really don't. A few of the older ones maybe...

Curtis Fleming has still got it and Hignett of course but no, they don't really have an excuse!

EB: Futsal is Brazilian isn't it? Are they the best futsal team?

Damon, who is a walking encyclopedia on futsal chips in: It was developed during the first World Cup in Uruguay.

But there are arguments about it being founded in Brazil though.

RL: There you go, it was developed in Uruguay, apparently!

EB: Apparently so. Who are the best national futsal teams?

RL: The best teams are Spain, Portugal and Brazil. In football, you would expect England to win easily against Albania but in futsal, it is the other way round.

EB: Where are England in the world rankings?

RL: There are one hundred and ten teams. England, last time I looked, I think were in the last ten teams.

EB: Okay, so what are you aiming for personally in futsal?

RL: I want to get a national cap for England and hopefully I should get that. [The game against Tranmere was a friendly]. Later on, I'd like to be captain and eventually I'd like to play in the World Cup. It would be amazing if I got to do that. I would be surprised but I would love it. I want to play against the best players in the world.

DS: Did you get everything you need?

EB: Yes, apart from a photo of you and Ryan...

DS: Runs off to change his T-shirt to the ClicSargent one Elle, how's my hair?

The rest of the team want to be in the picture so there is a lot of pushing and erm climbing on each other as I try to organise them.

EB: Right, that's great thanks. Bye!

In stereo: Bye Elle!






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com