Courtesy: News Leader


Indoor soccer brings area's diverse community together

by Maria Longley

February 5, 2011

During the cold months, some of the most diverse groups in the community gather to do friendly battle on the wood floors of the Gypsy Hill Park gym.

The battle: Futsal, a fast-paced indoor soccer. It isn't for the weak-hearted. Though injuries are few, the sport requires far more foot control and quick thinking than its outdoor counterpart.
The city's four-year-old Futsal league at first attracted mostly Latino residents from the area but has grown into a full-fledged melting pot of players.

"It grew legs and took off," said James Corbett, Staunton athletics specialist. "It's amazing to me the progress it's made."
On a recent Thursday night, the gym was filled with the sounds of rubber soles squeaking on the basketball court. Throughout the games, loud bangs echoed through the gym from the ball slamming against the corrugated metal walls.
Sergio Nuñez, 39, is captain of Los Matadores or The Killers, a team comprising his father, 16-year-old son Maximiliano and other relatives.
"It's a little too much," he said of his team's dark moniker. "It's supposed to be, like, asesino," meaning assassin.
Like so many other Latinos, Nuñez, a native of Paysandú, Uruguay, grew up playing soccer. He said he has seen the level of play in the city's Futsal league improve quickly and dramatically.
"American players have grown a lot," said the Waynesboro resident. His own team had just lost 9 to 7 against The Beatniks. "They are very good."
Thomas Knopp, 58, started playing soccer at age 30 when a Peruvian friend taught him the basics.
Like Nuñez's Killers, Knopp's team is made up of relatives, including nephews and his twin brother.
"Soccer is a great game," he said. "It's a good time to make friends. I've been enjoying getting to know everyone from the other teams and their different backgrounds. It's been real fun."
Just then, Nuñez came by to say hello. He pointed to Knopp's green team shirt, Knopps and Friends, and produced a mock frown.
"Naaah, this team is just blaaah," he joked.
Simon Otong, 31, also grew up playing soccer, but only just started Futsal three weeks ago.
"In Sudan, it is very hot, so we never had to play indoors," said Otong, an operating room technician at Augusta Health who was playing on Knopps and Friends. "It's a little bit harder to control the ball, because you're playing on a wood floor, so it goes much faster."
Corbett said it was mostly Latino players in the summer league who first requested that the city add indoor soccer to its programs. They used to have to travel to Harrisonburg to play futsal.
"It used to be dominated by the people who were playing in Harrisonburg," which has highly competitive recreational soccer leagues. "Now we have more Americans playing, so the teams are balancing out."
And the Latino players, Corbett added, are raising everyone's game with a faster and more physical style.
Nuñez said he can't imagine not playing soccer year round.
"It's a passion, a love," he said. "When you play, it's an amazing feeling."


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