Courtesy: News Wales


Wales plays the Brazilian game

5/5/2009

Footballers in South Wales are playing the game the Brazilian way as Merthyr Tydfil plays host to Wales’ first ever Futsal league.

Played with hockey sized goals and a smaller ball with a reduced bounce, Futsal creates an emphasis on creativity and technique significantly improving ball control and passing in small spaces.

The Brazilian game, responsible for honing the skills of the Pele’s and Ronaldinho’s of the footballing world, is poised to see phenomenal growth and has been brought to Wales through a partnership between the Sports Council for Wales, Welsh Football Trust and Merthyr Tydfil FC.

As part of a broader agenda of football development across Merthyr Tydfil, £7,000 from the Sports Council for Wales’s Regeneration Challenge fund has been injected into creating more opportunities for communities in the area to practice their fancy footwork.

The programme, which invests Welsh Assembly Government funding into developing sport and physical recreation and supporting community regeneration in Wales’ most recreationally and socio-economically deprived communities, has led to over 300 players participating in veteran and workplace league football along with the establishment of a Futsal league.

With professional leagues already established in Portugal, Italy, Argentina and Spain and the FAW’s intention of creating a national team in Wales by 2011, David Gough, Development Officer at the Welsh Football Trust, comments on its arrival:

"In Merthyr Tydfil, in partnership with the South Wales Football Association, we are delivering Wales’ first ever structured Futsal league on behalf of the Football Association of Wales.

"The game itself is played indoors on a specifically marked out court; with touchlines and a football with 30% reduced bounce allowing for the game to be quicker and more exciting for both the spectator and the player."

With four teams and 40 players already participating and an intention to double these figures by the end of the year, Futsal is already proving to be a big hit in encouraging people from all cultures and abilities to get onto the pitch.

And it’s not just the traditional 11-aside game enthusiasts that are trying their hand at the game as Gough explains:

"We are seeing already that this version of the game has a unique ability to attract interest from all areas of the community. With teams from both the Portuguese and Bulgarian communities already playing we are finding that it is breaking down some of the social and cultural barriers to participation that certain sections of the community face.

"Futsal is here in Wales, it’s for all and we want everyone to be involved. Over the next few years Futsal will work together with the traditional outdoor 11-a-side game across Wales to increase participation in football and engage people in regular physical activity."

Philip Carling, Chair of the Sports Council for Wales, comments:

"Sport’s great at getting your heart pumping, but it can also help bring communities together. This project is just one of the ways in which the Sports Council for Wales is helping people across Wales to get active. It is very encouraging to see alternative sports like futsal on offer and I would encourage the people of Merthyr to get on the pitch and give it a go."

Neil Ward, Chief Executive of the Welsh Football Trust said: "Futsal is endorsed by both FIFA and UEFA as the internationally recognised form of the small sided game. It is an additional outlet for players and once established in Wales it will provide a pathway to national and international competition.

"Futsal will also be a valuable tool to develop participation among those who do not play in existing football structures particularly in key target groups such as women and girls, and BME communities."

The new Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre hosts the league and boasts an indoor Futsal court, which will host international fixtures for the Inaugural Wales Futsal Team within the next two years.

For more information on how to get involved please contact David Gough on 01685 725136.






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