Courtesy: Soccer Nation


Futsal World Cup Player Sean Bowers

by Stephen Prendergast

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Sean Bowers One-on-One

Growing up in San Diego, Sean Bowers caught the soccer bug early on. At age five he was playing rec soccer with his father as coach, and during the 1980s he was a ball boy with the San Diego Sockers. After going to Quincy University on a soccer scholarship, Bowers moved on to play both indoor soccer with the Sockers and other teams and outdoor soccer with the Kansas City Wizards. He was a member of the U.S. Futsal National Team from 1996 to 2004, playing in two FIFA Futsal World Cups and earning 36 caps.

While still playing actively, Bowers began coaching at both the collegiate and professional levels. He is currently the women’s head coach at Miramar College and the owner and CEO of 619 Futsal, a U.S. Soccer-sanctioned developmental futsal program. 619 Futsal is completing its first winter season and the spring season will begin in early March.

619 Futsal's motto is “Join the Revolution,” and joining the revolution is about developing soccer players.

The registration deadline for the spring season has been extended to March 1, 2012.

SoccerNation News caught up with Bowers to talk about all aspects of the beautiful game.

SNN: First of all, your organization, 619 Futsal, is just completing its first league session. Can you tell us how it went?
Sean Bowers: It was tremendous. We had unbelievable feedback from our players, coaches and their families. Everyone loved the positive atmosphere that we created and the fun environment and the learning.

There were some bumps in the road that we need to get better at, but there is a lot of satisfaction from knowing what we’re doing is helping make the youth soccer players better.


SNN: Why did you start 619 Futsal?
Sean Bowers: I read an article a couple years ago written by a few of the higher-level national team coaches about how the technical side of soccer was lacking in America, especially in the girls’ game.

When I read that article I thought about how I could help change that here in my hometown of San Diego.

I was asked by U.S. Soccer and U.S. Youth Futsal about starting something in the San Diego area, so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone.

I could start a league that could possibly become an academy for training, and hopefully help to solve the technical problem we have. Futsal is amazig training for soccer.

That’s really the essence of why we started the league, to give the youth in San Diego the ability to become better soccer players. Our focus is on player development.


SNN: What is your biggest challenge with 619 Futsal?
Sean Bowers: I think just getting people to know about it. We had 58 teams in our first session, which was great. It set a record in U.S. Youth Futsal for the first time with a new league. I think the old record was 38 and we blew it away.

The challenge is always getting the word out to the public. It’s also been challenging to get people to understand that this is a developmental league. It’s not about coming in first place or about wins and losses; it’s about having these youth soccer players develop.

Our motto is “join the revolution,” and joining the revolution is about developing soccer players.


SNN: You have your second season beginning soon. What are the plans on that?
Sean Bowers: Our next season begins on March 11 and we have extended the deadline for registration to March 1. We have a discount for returning teams, and if one team wants to split into two futsal teams we have a multiple team discount as well. This season, High School players can come and form a team. It should be great.

March 11 will be our opening day celebration for the new season. It’s a futsal festival and we will have exhibition teams from U9 up through men’s coming in to play. If people know nothing about futsal, they can come and watch and learn – it’s totally free. We will have food and drinks available, and it will run from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

We will also offer free futsal skills clinics at the festival. Last time, 95 kids attended the clinic and I worked with them for an hour in the gym. It’s an awesome experience.


SNN: Do you have sponsors?
Sean Bowers: We really appreciate all our sponsors. Coca-Cola and Jersey Mike’s are helping out, and the San Diego Sockers and the San Diego SeaLions are both big sponsors of 619 Futsal. We’re part of the community and we’re not club-specific. We want every club to send teams and players here because we want to help make them better. We have discounts for returning teams and we also have a discount for multiple teams if one team wants to split up into two.


SNN: What do you like about futsal and why do you think it is so important?
Sean Bowers: I wish I had the opportunity to play futsal when I was growing up.

I think I would have been a better player. It really provides young players the opportunity to get touches on the ball.


SNN: How does Futsal help develop technical skills?
Sean Bowers: One of the things the American player lacks is the technical side of the game. When outdoor players are on a break between seasons, futsal gives them the chance to get more touches on the ball. Regular touches in an outdoor game is somewhere between 30 and 50; in futsal people touch the ball over 80 times in just the first 15 minutes. I think if youth players can get more touches on the ball between ages 8 and 19, they will become better players.

The touches on the ball are important, but so is movement off the ball. A lot of times when you see new teams come and play futsal they will pass the ball and then just stand and watch.

Playing futsal promotes movement, so when they play futsal and then play outdoor, where there is more room, they are used to moving. It becomes like a muscle memory.

Also, futsal teaches players to use different parts of the foot. They are used to using the inside of the foot, but in futsal you have to use the outside and the sole of the foot as well.

So I think futsal promotes the technical side of the game more fully than any other kind of soccer.

Finally in passing, if you are playing indoor soccer and you make a bad pass it’s going to come back off the boards and stay in the arena. If you do that in futsal it’s going to go out of bounds and you turn the ball over. Now it’s the other team’s ball. As you get older and play better teams in futsal, controlling the ball and maintaining possession is so important. You might not get it back for a minute or two, and possession is very important.


SNN: Who do you consider some of the best futsal players?
Sean Bowers: I would say Falcão from Brazil, who I played against in the 2004 Futsal World Cup, is the best futsal player right now. Brazil and Spain are generally the top two countries in futsal, and I would say it is not a coincidence that all the best teams in the world have youth futsal programs or even professional futsal programs. You could go down the top ten and probably all of them have some sort of futsal academy or training their players are brought up on. I think that will be the next wave of training in soccer in America.

All the best players in the world, Messi, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, grew up playing futsal.


SNN: Do you believe Futsal could be an Olympic sport?
Sean Bowers: Yes, there is no doubt in my mind that it could. It has every ingredient it needs. It has the scoring; it has the finesse and the flair. It would be easy to put into the arenas they have now for handball. It’s a low-cost sport. I absolutely believe it could be, and I know that is something they are trying to do.


SNN: What is your idea of a perfect game in futsal and in outdoor soccer?
Sean Bowers: One thing Futsal brings to a perfect game in the soccer world would be a lot of movement. In outdoor soccer you can make a pass and then sit back and watch how your pass was.

In futsal it’s all about movement, so a perfect game in futsal would have a lot of movement both on and off the ball. Second would be how people pass the ball. Third would be the footwork and skill work.

The biggest thing about futsal is the technique of the footwork and learning to use different parts of your foot – the inside, the outside and the bottom.

Futsal is a game of finesse and the technical side of the game rather than the physical side. Those are the things that we are teaching, and so the perfect game of futsal would combine all three of those elements: movement, passing and footwork.

A perfect outdoor would probably be one that is more strategic. In futsal there is more individual skill involved. Outdoor is more strategic in the formations you play, how you can get more people in the attack, and teaching people how to play on the defensive side. It’s about imposing your formation and your will on the other team.

The outdoor game is slower and there is a lot more thought process on the tactical side rather than the technical side, whereas futsal is fast and mainly technical.


SNN: On a personal note, what would you consider your greatest achievement so far?
Sean Bowers: Even with playing all my years of soccer, I would say my greatest achievement was getting a scholarship to play soccer in college. That paid for my four years education and then allowed me to go back and get my Master’s degree. For me it’s more about the educational process. I always tell everybody that’s my greatest achievement.

I played in two Futsal World Cups with the U.S. Futsal National Team, won championships and played in the MLS, but to receive an education – and soccer helped to provide that – is probably my greatest achievement by far.


SNN: When and where did you play your best soccer?
Sean Bowers: In the outdoor probably game I probably played my best soccer when I was on the Kansas City Wizards from 1996 through 2000. When I came in I was known as indoor player but I started over 100 games. I would say that was my best outdoor soccer experience.

In futsal I would say it was during the 2004 Futsal World Cup, the first time we ever made it out of bracket play and into the second round. We played Brazil and only lost by 2 points. I remember in 1996 we lost to Brazil 18-1, so the program had come a long way. Plus, any time you put on U.S. National Team jersey it’s a huge honor.


SNN: You have been both a player and coach for both college and professional teams. What do you most value in a coach?
Sean Bowers: Obviously knowledge would be one thing. You want to play for a coach who knows what they’re talking about. A second is their passion for the game. They don’t just show up for when practice starts and leave when it ends. They put a lot of time and effort into it.

Coaching as long as I have, I think the compassionate side is important as well. Players need to know the coach is there for them, even when they make mistakes. It’s about what happens after they make mistakes that counts.

It’s also important for a coach to be able to tell players what they are doing right as well as what they are doing wrong. I think sometimes coaches get stuck on telling players what they are doing wrong. I know on the women’s side it is especially important to tell them what they are doing well.

Finally, a coach needs to be there for the players after the game and off the field as a mentor and teacher. Those are the things that set the tone for me when I played, and I played for some great coaches who had all those three qualities.


SNN: What do you value most in a player?
Sean Bowers: The biggest thing for me is passion. I want someone who is passionate about the game and who will do whatever it takes. Someone who will come early and take shooting practice or stay late and do some running to get in shape. Passion goes a long way for me and so does heart. Those are things you can’t teach; those are things that people have to have. You can teach skills, you can teach speed and make people faster, but you can’t give someone the love of soccer and desire to get better.


SNN: What do you dislike in a player or coach?
Sean Bowers: The biggest thing for me is wasted talent – players who have talent but for some reason don’t “get it.”

Players who don’t work hard enough, or they think they are so good that they don’t have to work hard.

I would rather have someone with less skill who will work hard than someone who has a lot of skill but only plays at 70 percent. That’s a waste of talent. I think some people are born to play soccer, and they play it, but they choose to emotionally or physically or mentally “check themselves out” of the game. That’s one thing that always bothers me.

I would say the same thing for a coach. Some coaches know what they are doing but they don’t do it in the right way. That’s what we try to do at Miramar College and at 619 Futsal. It is important to always do it the right way


SNN: Looking back, who was your favorite coach?
Sean Bowers: Growing up I always thought we were lucky to have the San Diego Sockers here, with so many unbelievable players like Juli Vee, Brian Quinn, and the rest. I grew up with them; I was a ball boy, worked at their camps and hung out with them, so a lot of what they did rubbed off on me. But the biggest factor was the coach, Ron Newman.

When I was younger I always wanted t play for him and I got the opportunity in 1996 when he became the head coach with the Kansas City Wizards. He actually drafted me in the third round, I think No. 20, and I got to play for him for two and a half years. It was an honor and I learned a lot from him on how to run and manage a team. He was a huge influence when I was a kid, all the way up to when I got to play for him.


SNN: At this point in your career, what is your greatest ambition?
Sean Bowers: Probably my greatest ambition is teaching the game of soccer. I coach U12 and U14 girls at Arsenal and at 619 Futsal. I think that the 619 Futsal league will eventually become an academy. We would like to make into something like an Olympic Developmental Program and be able to bring in the best players at different ages from around the region. We would like to see it grow from a state program to regional and then national, and then eventually take U14, U16 and U18 teams to different countries to compete.


SNN: Do you think soccer should use technology like playback the way some other sports are?
Sean Bowers: I don’t know; I think I’m a purist. I grew up watching the Bundesliga on Sunday mornings with my dad, and I don’t think there is room for technology, to be honest with you. I think the referee system is great. I believe that the majority of time they get things right. You have missed calls, but you’re going to have that anywhere. I think that’s the element of the game, like balls and strikes in baseball. Yes, sometimes it costs teams games, but I think at end of the day you have the objectivity that is needed.


SNN: You mentioned referees. How are the referees who work 619 Futsal games different from many other referees?
Sean Bowers: Referees have a hard job. They have to make judgment calls all the time. One of the good things about 619 Futsal is that we’re not just getting referees off the street. We are sanctioned by U.S. Soccer, and being sanctioned gives us many benefits.

One of those benefits is that we have to use U.S. Soccer-sanctioned referees, so every single referee that works a match is a Grade A referee and has been certified for futsal. So not only do they have one certification, they have to have two. I think that is one thing that separates us from other leagues because we have that credibility.


SNN: Which is your favorite soccer team to watch?
Sean Bowers: I would have to say the Sockers of the 80s because I grew up with them.

The Sockers of the 80s were a phenomenal team to watch, and I watched them outdoor and indoor. Of the teams that are playing now, I really enjoy watching FC Barcelona. I like the way they play, but not everyone has players like that. I’m also a big Liverpool fan, even though they’ve had their ups and downs lately. I like what Manchester City has been doing, and I like how Real Madrid moves the ball.


SNN: Who is your favorite player?
Sean Bowers: One of favorite players is Michael Essien who plays for Chelsea. He’s kind of a defensive midfielder who wins the ball and plays simple. I say all the time that players and coaches make the game of soccer hard. We have to make it simple, and he’s one of those players who plays simple all the time. I like that.


SNN: Who do you most admire?
Sean Bowers: I would say my parents. They gave me a great environment to be successful and excel in school and get a scholarship and play 16 years of professional soccer at all levels. I have tried to mold myself around them and to be a good father. I think I had very good role models for that.


619 Futsal Registration Information:

2012 Spring Season runs March 11 through May 20
Registration deadline March 1, 2012
U8-U14 = $550 per team – Games will be officiated by 1 referee
U15-U18 High school Division = $550 per team – Games will be officiated by 1 referee
Women’s Open = $550 per team – Games will be officiated by 1 referee
U19-Men’s Open-Men’s over 30 = $595.00 – Games will be officiated by 2 referees
Returning Teams receive $25 off their team fees
Contact 619 Futsal for details about multiple team discount




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