Courtesy: Barre Montpelier Times Argus

Futsal catches on in Capital City

Jim Higgins

About a month ago, Capital Soccer Club's co-founder Peter Kim predicted their new sport, futsal, "will catch on and surpass boarded soccer in popularity in a very short time."

(If sheer team numbers are any indication, his prediction is looking good. CSC has 75 teams signed up, just five short of last year's total for boarded soccer.)

On Sunday, three weeks after the season officially began, I visited the Central Vermont Civic Center and pestered a few players to find out what they thought of the new version of soccer in their midst.

Futsal, by the way, is played on a smaller footprint than the rink-sized boarded soccer. In fact, two games of futsal can be played in the rink – crossways — and only four players plus the goalie play for each team at any given time.

Olivia Drown, a Northfield High School student playing for the U-15 Dynamos, generally likes the game.

"You definitely have to pass more, you just can't hit it off the boards," she said, "so it cuts down on the greedy ball hogs. The short field also cuts down on the options so it's a more difficult game, but with just four people out there there's still plenty of room to run around."

Her mother, Sandra, also likes the game, but from a protective mother's point of view.

"It's not as aggressive as boarded soccer," the mother of six (three of whom play the game) commented. "I'm not as worried about my kids getting hurt off the boards. It's more about controlling the ball."

Sandra Drown also spoke for her son, Gabe, who plays on the CSC U-14 team, but who wasn't present at the time.

"He's really likes it. Mostly, he likes the fact that it's a much faster game."

Brooke Bova of Montpelier, who plays for the CSC U-16 team, prefers futsal over boarded soccer.

"It just doesn't require that much skill to hit a ball off the boards," she said. "This is a very fast game that requires a lot of technique with quick passing and quick movement. It's also a lot of fun because you get a lot of shots off, unlike boarded soccer which took a lot longer to get the ball from one end to the other."

Zeljana Varga, a teammate of Bova's on the MHS basketball team, plays for a CSC U-18 team, and she too recognizes the superior skill required by futsal.

"It's quite challenging," she said, "and it's also great for the little kids just starting out because now they're starting their career out with foot skills."

Varga, or "Z" is arguably one of the most artistic ball handlers in all of Vermont, and concedes she prefers the wide open spaces of outdoor soccer. "I really like the space to run around," she says. "You have a lot more time to develop plays."

Soccer is still developing around here she says. "The United States is finally coming around, and futsal will comes around too, just give it time."

Referee David Blythe of Montpelier is in his 19th year and feels the change to futsal is a good thing.

"There simply was not much protection from injury in board soccer," he said, "and now the emphasis is primarily on skill and control which will enhance young player's skill development tremendously."

Blythe said he is noticing a difference in just one session of playing futsal, even among advanced players. The more frequent out-of-bounds in futsal, he said "doesn't cut either way. It's different, yes, but it compels a team to reset very quickly, which is an advantage in terms of training."

As a spectator sport, I confess, futsal is an acquired taste. My preference, like "Z's" is for the wide open spaces, for elegant drives with long arcing shots on goal, but the intention, it seems to me, is clearly that futsal is a development tool first and foremost, with the skills paying out later in the outdoors. Yes, futsal is a sport unto itself at the international level, but locally, I believe we'll see the "bloom" out on the grass, not on the plastic turf.





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