Courtesy: Daily San Diego Soccer News


Kaliff to Run SW Futsal Competition

By Ivan Alber

Mary Kaliff, Nomads Soccer Club general manager, has been selected to run the NikeFive U.S. Southwest Regional Championship competition to be held in conjunction with the Cal South Soccer Nationals event at the Los Angeles Convention Center on the weekend of Feb. 13, 2010.

“It’s a new adventure for me,” Kaliff said. “I feel very fortunate to be a part of this movement we’re seeing around the sport of futsal. With the competitions in 2010, we’re looking forward to attracting new clubs into the tournament.”

Kaliff, who has been instrumental in organizing numerous Nomads tournaments throughout each soccer season, will continue her normal role with the La Jolla soccer club.

The President and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Futsal Federation (USFF) responsible for Kaliff’s appointment, Alex Para, cited her expertise in tournament organization and interest in futsal as the central reasons for the hiring.

“I’ve known Mary for about five years now,” Para said. “She’s always done a superb job in orchestrating the Nomads tournaments, including the Thanksgiving one that draws close to 350 teams. She also knows a lot about futsal and has helped the sport’s growth in the San Diego area.”

Futsal is a type of soccer that is played indoors on a hard court surface between two teams of five players. It is played with a smaller ball with less bounce than a normal soccer ball. The rules create an emphasis on improvisation, creativity and technique as well as ball control and passing in small spaces.

“We are seeing tremendous growth of the sport but we always want to see more,” Para said. “The U.S. Futsal Federation was founded in 1981 and we’ve grown to develop a great relationship with US Youth Soccer. In comparison to full-sided soccer, the futsal style of small-sided soccer using a smaller ball with less bounce is an even greater tool to develop young athletes. The game stresses passing skill and greatly increases the number of touches that a player will see.”

The seven regional competitions in 2010, including the Southwest tournament held in Los Angeles, are scheduled on different weekends from February to April. The advancing teams across the many different age groups will meet at the USFF National Championships, which start July 15 in Orange County.

“There was a technical committee formed a few years back that formulated a plan on how the U.S. could become a truly successful soccer country and the discussions focused on two main points,” Kaliff said. “Critical to the success of youth soccer were developmental academies like Nomads Soccer Club and also the emphasis on small-sided soccer, as we see in futsal. That type of play fosters incredible growth of young players.”

For more specific info on the Southwest Regional competition, click here.


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