Courtesy: Northern Ireland FA


FUTSAL SCHOOL LAUNCH

09/07/2009

THE Irish FA’s first ever Summer Futsal and Freestyle Soccer School (SFFSS) will kick off on Thursday in North Belfast at Loughside Leisure Centre (6pm-8pm).

This innovative Futsal school will run every Thursday night until the end of August and will allow 20 under 16s from North Belfast to learn coaching skills and play Futsal to the sounds of the latest hip-hop music.

Futsal is a variant of association football that is mainly played indoors. Its name is derived from the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol sala/de salón, which can be translated as 'indoor football.’

The SFFSS is a joint partnership between the IFA’s community relations campaign Football For All, World United, Belfast City Council and the PSNI. Belfast based intercultural football team World United will be providing two Portuguese coaches to teach the children the growing game of Futsal while the PSNI are supervising and providing transport for the cross-community group to attend the Thursday night sessions.

Belfast City Council is funding the soccer school in order to provide a fun and healthy activity for young people from North Belfast during the summer months. The school, which is free for the young people aims to create positive role models from diverse backgrounds to support its anti-racism message.

IFA Head of Community Relations and manager of the SFFSS, Michael Boyd is excited about the launch: "The IFA is very keen to support cross-community and intercultural relations. In the light of the recent racist attacks in Belfast, it is vital that we educate young people about diversity and equality. Football For All is all about providing a fun, safe and inclusive environment through football and I am very positive that the Summer Soccer School will not only improve community relations between the young people attending, but also help them form lasting friendships while improving their football techniques at the same time."

It is hoped that as the Summer School progresses, special guest speakers will attend to deliver talks to the children about community related issues such as anti-sectarianism, anti-racism and mental health issues. For more information contact ffa@irishfa.com






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