Courtesy: Super F League Official Web Site


Teaching the Game

By David Knopf
Futsal World Editor
dknopf@kc.rr.com

Tozer, recently appointed to serve as a futsal clinician for FIFA, sent an e-mail to federation headquarters in Zurich this month to learn more about when and where his first assignment will be. Tozer and other members of FIFA’s futsal staff are assigned to put on coaching clinics any where in the world, and for Tozer, not necessarily close to home.

But this summer — the first time in three years — that’s exactly where Tozer, assistant national team coach Vava Marquez and the players will be. After competing in two international tournaments the past two summers, including the 2008 Futsal World Cup in Brazil, the U.S. team will be cooling its heels.

“Sometimes I think it’s good to have a break,” Tozer said. “There’s a 16-team tournament in Brazil this summer and we were invited, but we won’t be going.”

That will allow Tozer to spend time in Milwaukee, where he serves as head coach and vice president of soccer operations for the Milwaukee Wave. A highlight of the summer will be the debut of the Wave’s Futsal Academy, a unique two-week program for players 7 to 15. Meeting June 29 to July 3 and July 13-17 at the Elite Fitness and Racquet Club North Shore, Tozer and an experienced futsal staff will approach the game from several directions – technical skills, fitness and tactics.

In addition to Tozer, the staff will include Elddys Valdez, who coached the Cuban National Futsal Team to two second-place finishes (2004 and 2008) at the CONCACAF tournament, as well as appearances in two FIFA Futsal World Cups.

Also on the staff is Marquez, Tozer’s national-team assistant and a Brazilian who once played for the Wave. Marquez has been a successful college-level coach in outdoor soccer teaches futsal in California.

Two current Wave players, both Brazilians with backgrounds in futsal, will also serve as academy coaches. They are Marcio Leite, a forward who played futsal in Brazil with Malwee (Falcao’s team), and Chico, a Wave midfielder.

Marquez will join Tozer for the second academy session, while Elddys will be on the staff the first week.

Having two national-team coaches on the same staff is a first, Tozer said.

“It’s the first time it’s ever happened in the U.S.,” he said.

More information on the Wave’s Futsal Academy is available at www.milwaukerwave.com.

As mentioned in a previous newsletter, Tozer is hoping to expand his network of potential national-team players. At present, the U.S. team is a collection of indoor and outdoor players, many of whom have limited futsal experience.

The American team is at a disadvantage, Tozer says, because the players lack the experience and year-round futsal training that countries with professional leagues enjoy.

“That’s why Guatemala won the CONCACAF title this year, because two years ago the country started a professional (futsal) league and these players are playing close to 100 games a year,” Tozer said.

Futsal is likely to follow the same progression that America is experiencing in outdoor soccer. American players began playing overseas, which ultimately improved the quality of the game here and paved the way for the success of Major League Soccer.

Given its limited resources, the U.S. National Futsal Team has enjoyed success under Tozer, including three World Cup appearances and CONCACAF gold medals in 1996 and 2004. But the 2008 World Cup was a wake-up call, Tozer has said, because countries like Guatemala progressed while the U.S. lost ground.

The logical step, he says, is to begin emulating what happened in outdoor soccer: expose talented American players to professional or high-level amateur futsal clubs outside the country. Many players make a living playing the game in Europe, South America and Asia.

It’s a natural step, Tozer says, in the evolution of futsal in the U.S.

“No one’s playing professionally (now), but I’m trying to get some teams overseas to look at some players,” he said.

Also in the works are clinics and other education programs for American futsal coaches.






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