By David Knopf
Futsal World Editor
As we turn the corner on a new year, it's as
good a time as any to reflect on where we've been and where we're headed.
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| John Sciore |
United States Youth Futsal's seen great grown,
in part because of progressive, hard-working leadership, an entrepreneurial
model and the support of people like Development Director John Sciore, who not
only runs a very successful USYF league of his own in St. Louis, but hosts a
regional tournament and manages our national tournament, which takes place in
Gardner, Kan., a Kansas City suburb, Feb. 15-18.
As many of you know, when John receives an
inquiry from a potential league owner he follows up – and stays involved as the
individual is guided through the maze of finding a facility, marketing the new
league, recruiting teams, securing licensed referees, purchasing goals and
balls, and soliciting media interest in futsal, what for many can be a strange
new word (and world).
I know from my own experience as a traveler in
the futsal wilderness – I started the first sanctioned league in Missouri in
1997 with four teams – it can be a discouraging job without some direction and
support.
Part of the process is educating soccer
coaches, players and parents on the game’s value and its international presence.
Few may care at first that USYF is affiliated with US Soccer – which officially
has come out in support of futsal in the development of youth players – or that
our national organization is part of FIFA, which recognizes futsal as the
official indoor game for all the soccer-playing
nations in the world.
Futsal's a very big deal in other regions –
Europe, South America and increasingly Asia – with well-attended, televised and
very competitive international competitions such as the Futsal World Cup and the
UEFA and Asian futsal championships.
The game is still at a developing stage in
North America, Central America, Africa and, surprisingly, countries like
England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, for which North
Americans feel a special bond.
***
One of the goals of the Futsal World newsletter is to chart the growth of USYF – the
creation and growth of new leagues, special events such as the coaches' clinics
held in conjunction with the national championship, as well as the success of
players, coaches and organizers of our member leagues.
While we observe our own growth, it's also instructive
to see what's happening elsewhere, in places where the traditions and obstacles
encountered are similar to our own.
With that in mind, we've spent time the past few
months corresponding with a professional player, goalkeeping coach and blogger
in England who are all involved in English futsal.
Doug Reed, Andy Reading and others – this month
we introduce a new contact with futsal organizers in Wales – are as
enthusiastic about futsal as we are here. We’re enjoying some of the same
successes and facing similar challenges.
Even with the adoption of futsal by the English
Football Association, for example, England lacks a professional league and the
English National Futsal Team, though improving, remains several notches below
the better European teams.
Another parallel – one linked closely to the
English influence on outdoor soccer in the U.S. and Canada – is the obstacle
English futsal supporters face in 5-a-side soccer, a small-sided game the Brits
have long played in the winter and when weather forces them indoors.
The game has some similarities to futsal –
smaller field, four field players and a goalie, more touches – but there are
significant differences. For one thing, the game is played with a regulation
high-bounce outdoor ball and players are not only allowed, but encouraged, to
use boards that enclose the field for passing.
Promoters of 5-a-side laud the walls for
keeping the ball in play and avoiding unnecessary stoppages, but any
knowledgeable futsal participant will quickly point out that learning to
accomplish the same things with your feet is far better than relying on a
man-made barrier.
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| English 5-a-side, played indoors and out, has much in common with indoor soccer. |
When the English came here in numbers to play
and coach in the North American Soccer League, they brought the basic concept
of 5-a-side with them. Given North Americans' familiarity with hockey and the
existence of hockey arenas, English, Welsh and Irish organizers and promoters
who set up shop here adapted their game to our facilities.
As a result, not only did NASL teams field
indoor teams in a winter league – the future Major Indoor Soccer League – but
many of the same entrepreneurs built or converted facilities for indoor youth
leagues. Just as the English/Irish/Scottish preference for physical, direct
soccer became imbedded in the outdoor game in North America, so did the
traditional 5-a-side game – the high-bouncing ball, dasher boards, ricochets
and wall passes and rebounds all became part of the North American mentality.
Fortunately, thanks to futsal that’s gradually
changing. At the professional level, the indoor game is at best a fringe sport
and a growing share of the youth market has been won over by futsal.
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| An indoor soccer game in the old North American Soccer League. |
But clearly, the process isn’t a revolution,
but evolution. Shedding tradition to adopt something new doesn't happen
overnight, but it begins to occur as people come to understand the benefits.
In some respects, the U.S. is ahead of England
– its footie forefather – in youth futsal. It was only recently, in May 2012,
that the English Football Association broadly endorsed small-sided play for
youth through U-12, as The Telegraph newspaper of London put it, "for the
future good of England".
US Soccer came to the same conclusion several
years earlier – that more touches in a smaller area with greater emphasis on
development over winning was desirable.
Realistically, it was the international outdoor
success of nations such as Spain, Italy and Portugal in Europe that opened eyes
in England and Ireland that their soccer-development models were outmoded. It's
no coincidence that each of those countries they emulated – much like Brazil in
our own hemisphere – had
a professional futsal league that played at the
highest level.
While the U.S. may be further along than
England in creating youth futsal leagues, England, Ireland and now Wales (read
about it elsewhere in this newsletter) have all placed a greater emphasis on
forming national adult teams, many of which are affiliated at some level with
universities or professional clubs.
In addition, the English and Irish, though
their football associations, have relied more more on school futsal to develop
young players. By contrast, through organizations such as USYF, the U.S. is
depending on entrepreneurs and associations to develop futsal opportunities for
kids.
The path these countries choose isn't as important
as their ultimate destination – greater development of skillful players for the
youth outdoor game, as well as the technical foundation for stronger national
futsal and full-field, senior-level outdoor teams.
You’ve read here about the USYF player who, at
16, became the first player developed through futsal to win a spot on the U.S.
National Futsal Team. That’s just the beginning. In 10 or 15 years, we’ll look
back and that will be commonplace.
What's interesting is that England, with its 5-a-side
format, and North America, with its 5-a-side/hockey arena derivative – are
facing a common opponent: tradition.
As Martin Luther King might have said, that,
too, can be overcome.
We welcome your comments. Write Futsal
World at davidknopf48@gmail.com. Include your name and a daytime phone number
so we can contact you if needed.
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