Courtesy: Meridian Booster


Are you ready for some futsal?

Lakeland College’s newest sport ready to kick into high gear with first tournament

By Carl Carter

Border City residents will soon get to experience what the excitement about futsal is all about.

The latest sport to hit Lakeland College will get an unveiling of sorts this weekend, as the Rustlers host their inaugural futsal tournament – and the first one for the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference this year.

"People are going to see the skill level, the speed it's all played at, they will see the players do things they would never do on a soccer field," said Rustlers futsal coach Mick Gale. "They will see the players do outrageous things with the ball, things you would never see normally."

While people may see it as a variation of indoor soccer, there are some differences. Besides the sizes for nets and the ball itself, the biggest difference will be the boards, as you cannot use the wall in futsal. Besides those changes, the Rustlers players still expect fans to have a lot of fun watching the skill involved.

"The biggest thing is going to be the speed, because with regular indoor soccer sometimes the game stops, but here it's different," said Tara Luchynski, who plays for the Rustlers women's team. "Other than that it's just a lot about skill rather than just actual sprint and run."

Nine teams in total will compete at this weekend's tournament – including the Rustlers men's and women's teams. Organizers were originally planning for eight teams in each of the men's and women's brackets, but are still pleased with the turnout for their first year.

"I think the weather had a bit of discussion on that, and on top of that we had things like travel arrangements because we've got two more of these coming up," said Gale. "In terms of travel, a lot of teams didn't want three tournaments in terms of major travel, and that's a pity really, but it is in our first year so we won't complain."

While the futsal and soccer programs are still very new at Lakeland College, Gale is still confident that the Rustlers are going to put on a good show in their inaugural season.

"I intend for Lakeland to do well," said Gale. "My expectations are to win it, and that's a bit big headed in my mind but we have got some very, very good players."

The players are also getting excited to get into some game action, and after months and months of training they are also feeling very confident in their abilities.

"It's pretty exciting, we've been practicing for like six months for this tournament," said Sebastiano Grande, from the Rustlers men's team. "The talent level we have is incredible, we got some awesome players, and I think we'll probably win the tournament. I'll bet anything that we'll win it."



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