Courtesy: FAI Futsal Portal


Emerald Futsal League – get into it!

Saturday, 06 June 2009

Ireland’s first long term adult's Futsal league is kicking off in Dublin on Saturday 13th June and will run every Saturday for 16 weeks until October at the BRL Umbro Arena in Ballymun. This will give Irish players the chance to play the game that’s helped to develop the silky skills of Messi, Ronaldinho and numerous world superstars over the last few decades.

Futsal is the official UEFA and FIFA version of indoor 5 a side soccer. The FAI has run a League of Ireland pre season futsal competition over the last three years and this competition has been a great success. The winning teams have gone on to represent Ireland in the UEFA Futsal Cup (see www.uefa.com/futsal) and performed very well. International futsal teams have also been formed giving players an exciting new opportunity to represent their country.
Speaking at the launch of the new Emerald Futsal League, FAI National Futsal Coordinator, Derek O’Neill said: “ Many adult players now want to play futsal on a longer term basis and the FAI is helping the creation of this new pilot Leinster based Emerald Futsal League. The vision is to help to establish and expand this league in the coming years to accommodate not only the best futsal players but every player who wants to play Futsal. It is hoped that a successful Leinster project can then be replicated in other provinces in the near future. It’s also a great opportunity to attract thousands of social and recreational 5 a side players and offer them the chance to play the official UEFA and FIFA version of 5 a side football. And who knows, we may unearth a few gems from these legions of players who up until now have had no opportunities at National or International level to showcase their talents. The creation of the Emerald Futsal League is the beginning of the structure to accommodate these players “

However, while the development of adult’s Futsal is important, O’Neill who recently attended newly crowned European Champions Barcelona’s training sessions is also convinced of the merits of the game in helping to develop greater technical and mental skills in our very youngest players:
“When you hear how players of the calibre of Messi, Iniesta and Xavi have played futsal as youngsters and listen to what they say about the merits of the game for kids, it’s worth listening to. And when you marvel at the skills it’s helped them to develop, it’s certainly worth including Futsal as part of Irish youngster’s training programmes!” he said:
“In Argentina, when I was a young boy, I used to play a lot of Futsal. It was a really nice game that's helped me a great deal.” LIONEL MESSI







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