Courtesy: STL Club Sports


Futsal leagues enhance skills development as indoors alternative

by Cathy Hensley

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The fall outdoor soccer season may be winding down, but that doesn't mean most teams are ready to hang up their cleats.

Many will turn to indoor soccer, and while that often means playing the familiar "walled" version, John Sciore believes he has a better alternative in futsal.

Played on a faster hard surface or court, futsal uses a slightly smaller and heavier ball than a traditional soccer ball. Teams field only five players each on the smaller court, and there is absolutely no bouncing the ball off the wall.

"The thing about futsal is the feeling the player gets between the playing surface and their foot," Sciore said. "Because the ball is smaller and heavier, the smaller ball teaches you better control."

Since 2003, Sciore has been the director of Gateway Futsal, the St. Louis branch of United States Youth Futsal. A former college soccer player, Sciore has seen the rise of futsal around the country, particularly in Kansas, where the U.S. Youth Futsal organization is based.

He's come to believe it's the future of indoor soccer, and the best offseason practice for players because of how it resembles the outdoor game.

"I Googled futsal, and I realized they're playing it all over the world," he said. "It was an easy transition to see this could be a great tool to develop players."

Futsal has been around internationally since the 1930s. It is recognized by FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, as its official indoor game. Futsal -- which loosely translates to a derivation of "indoor soccer" -- is believed to have originated in the streets of South America, but quickly took shape worldwide.

FIFA sponsors the Futsal World Cup, with at least 24 teams expected to vie for the championship in the 2012 tournament.

Sciore said while futsal hasn't yet caught on in the United States the way it has around the globe, many coaches and players are coming around to it.

His local futsal league had more than 200 teams playing futsal last year, and he expects at least that many this winter, too.

One coach he won't have to convince to give it a try is Mike Taylor, Avalon Soccer Club's director of coaching.

"It's designed to improve your footwork skills. It's a confined, small field so you have to make quick decisions," Taylor said. "You have to play a short-pass game. You have boundaries -- no walls -- so everything is at a faster pace. And it improves your foot skills because you don't have a wall to use to beat a player."

Taylor said his U15, U16 and U18 boys teams will play futsal this winter. He made the transition from walled indoor soccer several years ago. While it was an adjustment, his boys haven't wanted to go back.

Some coaches may not be as fond of futsal because without walls, the ball will go out of bounds and stop play more frequently than in walled indoor soccer. And that could frustrate some players.

"Younger teams, yes, they will probably be frustrated," Taylor said. "It's going to be totally different for them."

But both Taylor and Sciore said teams will make the transition, and their play will adjust and, more importantly, improve because of it.

"It isn't going to happen overnight," Taylor added. "Futsal forces you to do the right thing. It forces you to play that short pass very accurately. It forces you to make sure you are going to play the ball the right way."

Eric Delabar, Maryville University's women's soccer coach, played professional soccer outdoors as a member of the former New York Cosmos and indoors as a member of the St. Louis Steamers.

He agreed that futsal can offer advantages to improving ball skills but believes both futsal and walled indoor soccer can be beneficial for young players.

"I think whatever kids can do to increase their technical ability is great, and basically that's just touching the ball," he said. "The biggest problem with American soccer players is they don't play enough."

For teams playing walled indoor soccer, Delabar said it's important to emphasize that they won't have the walls to rely on when they return to the outdoor fields.

He uses both techniques when he's training his Maryville team.

"When I have to go indoors with my girls, sometimes if we're in the gym I let them use the walls, and sometimes I say, ‘No, there are the lines,'" he added.

Taylor said coaches who are reluctant to commit to a winter league of futsal because their teams haven't played before can try it on their own first in a gym or court setting.

"The whole game itself is what's going to advance a player's skill," he said.

Sciore encourages participation in a league because it lets a team not just practice, but "practice perfectly," he said, with futsal-trained referees.

That extra training for officials is important because unlike in walled indoor soccer and the outdoor versions, fouls and player contact are called more closely.

"The focus in futsal is on possession and not on physical play," said Sciore, who also serves as U.S. Youth Futsal's national director of development to encourage the growth of leagues. "Kids will get six to 10 times more touches than in outdoor or the walled indoor game."

While Taylor endorses futsal wholeheartedly, he understands that others may be reluctant to make the switch.

"It's not for everyone," he said. "You may have a team that just loves indoor soccer, or you may be a coach that has a young team and they really love and enjoy it. Then, that's the best thing for you.

"If you really want to advance the individual level of the players, I think futsal is the way to go," he added.

Sciore's Gateway Futsal is hosting a league with three locations for games this winter. More information on that league and its locations can be found on Gateway Futsal's website, www.gatewayfutsal.com.

Vetta Sports, one of many local facilities offering walled indoor soccer, also plans to host a futsal league at two of its locations, Manchester and Webster Groves. Information on those leagues can be found at www.vettasports.com.




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