Courtesy: Evening Leader

Everyone’s urged to give Futsal a go

A NEW version of football is making its debut in the area and an appeal is being made for players to join the ranks.

Futsal, a scaled down version of the beautiful game, is played by two teams of five players, including a goalkeper, on a basketball size pitch on a variety of different indoor surfaces.

There are no walls to smash bodies into, the ball is of a much smaller scale (size three or four) and more heavier with a dampened bounce.

Futsal is the official five-a-side game recognised by FIFA and is likely to become an Olympic Sport for the 2008 Beijing Games.

Brief Rules of Futsal are: five players and up to 12 players in a squad; unlimited ‘flying’ substitutions; when the ball goes out of play, it is kicked back into play; there will be a main referee and an assistant referee; at stoppages the clock will be stopped by a timekeeper; duration of play will be of two periods of 20 minutes; each team is allowed one time-out per half; goalkeeper throw ball back into play; there is a four second rule on restarts; there is no offside; and there is a four second rule on players putting ball back into play.

The idea of the game is to promote better skills in both attack and defence.

The inaugural Welsh Futsal League Cup was played in November at Deeside Leisure Centre, with Deeside Dragons from Shotton finishing as eventual champions.

Futsal is a game which requires and promotes speed, agility and skill, and is widely regarded as a major factor in the success of the traditionally skillful South American nations such as Brazil.

England have an official Futsal team which plays in the UEFA Futsal Championships and will be playing in the FIFA World Futsal Cup next year. The game is also played in other courties such as Holland, Japan, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Romania, Ukraine and Russia.

To promote the sport across the region, the North East Wales FA are holding two competitions at the NEWI Plas Coch Sports Centre. The first is on Sunday February 25, from 12pm to 5pm, with the second - a North Wales Open Cup - on Sunday March 18, 2008.

Organisers are looking for a sponsor for their competition and the new league.

For more information, contact Brian Roberts on (01978) 362477.



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