Courtesy:
Aberdeen News.comNSU to host futsal tourney this weekendby
Ryan DealFebruary 10, 2012NSU soccer coach Steve Kehm will spend time with some former players this weekend.
The Northern State soccer team is hosting its 12th annual futsal tournament this Saturday and Sunday. The games will be played at Wachs Arena, Washington Street Gym and Dacotah Hall Gym. There will be 36 teams, the most ever in the tournament's history. There will also be 23 former players competing and the former players will form three different teams.
“The coolest thing about this year's tournament is the 23 alumni returning to play in it,” Kehm said. “That is always awesome to see those kids again. I just think that in itself is pretty amazing. That is unbelievable to me. Kids flew in from Calgary, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Portland - to me that is amazing.”
What is futsal?“It is a Brazilian game,” Kehm said. “It was created to help develop technical skill and just make people better on the ball.”
Instead of 11-on-11 like a normal soccer game, it is 5-on-5.
“It allows for more touches,” Kehm said. “On a regular game of 11-on-11, you may touch the ball only 20 times. Where a game of futsal, they will touch it 50. But it's just a Brazilian game played in the dimensions of a basketball court and basically the three-point line is the goalkeepers' area.”
The tournament will start at 9 a.m. Saturday and continue until midnight. The first day is pool play and 54 games will be played. The playoffs are Sunday morning starting at 8 a.m. and concluding at 2 p.m. The games will consist of two 18-minute halves.
There will be teams from colleges such as Jamestown College, Sioux Falls, Minnesota State-Moorhead, Minnesota-Crookston, Minnesota-Morris and some amateur teams as well.
“Every year, we have to turn teams away. With the hotel alliance, we have been able to expand a little bit this year and we are looking forward to doing that again in the future,” Kehm said.
Posted by
Luca Ranocchiari -->
luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com
