Pages

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A Battle of Two Elite U-11 Teams from Ohio, Texas

The U-11 Great Lake Futsal ALL-Stars (in red) had to get past City Futsal of Dallas if it hoped to repeat its USYF National Championship from a year ago. The Ohio team, coached by Chris Dore and Tony Barzacchini, had to overcome an aggressive opponent with considerable individual skill in the semifinal, but played as a cohesive unit to win 7-4 and move to the final, where it edged Own Touch Futsal Academy 3-2 in a thriller.


 



Members of the U-11 champs are: Nic Barzacchini, Kyle Cusimano, Matt Decapua, Peter Van Euwen, Kyle Folds
Logan Penton, Nathan Vrablic, Danial Vrablic and Jeremy Sgro, who was unable to play due to injury.








 It's no fluke that GLF has won two USYF titles in a row. Outdoors, the team won a state championship in U-10 as the Challenger CREW Jrs. -- North based in Avon, Ohio. Their club is an affiliate of Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew.




Bench coach Tony Barzacchini had his hands full in the semifinal, instructing his players from the bench, choosing the right times to substitute and tending to an injured player.

But his players capitalized on a well-drilled passing game, free kick goals and some stout defending and goalkeeping to offset the speed and dribbling skill of the Dallas team. "They are a special group of boys," Barzacchini said.


Photos by David Knopf/Futsal World Newsletter

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Team from USYF League in Naples, Fla., Makes First Trip to Nationals

The U-16/U-17 team from Naples Futsal came within a goal of reaching the final in its division at the national tournament.

The team from Naples, Fla. reached the U-16/17 finals before falling by a single goal (1-0) to the eventual champion, BNC Revolution B.

USYF videographer and photographer John Haasis interviewed Luis Orellana, president of Naples Futsal, at the tournament. Orellana discusses what was involved in getting members of the team to Kansas City for the tournament. 

Watch the videotaped interview here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm-w0arxIxM&feature=youtu.be

USYF Tournament Crowns Champions, Announces Futsal I.D. Camp Led by Keith Tozer

124 teams in 19 divisions competed in the largest United States Youth Futsal national championship to date Feb. 15-18 in Gardner, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City.

In addition to attracting teams from the MLS Kansas City Sporting Academy and other top in-state teams from St. Louis and Springfield, the tournament drew teams from as far away as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Texas and Florida.

At the USYF tournament, coaches were treated to a clinic led by U.S. Futsal National Team Coach Keith Tozer, who is also the owner of a new USYF league in Wisconsin.
  For a list of the division champions and finalists, go to http://usyouthfutsal.blogspot.com/2013/02/2013-us-youth-futsal-nationals-results.html




National Team Coach, USYF Announce I.D. Camp in March for Top Youth Players



USYF announced just before the national tournament that Keith Tozer, coach of the U.S. Futsal National team, will return to the Kansas City Area March 22-24 for his first Midwest Futsal I.D. Training Camp.

Keith Tozer will hold his first Midwest ID Camp in Kansas City March 22-24.
The camp is part of an initiative by Tozer and USYF to build the national team from the grassroots up by identifying young futsal players with the potential to compete internationally.

The I.D. camp will focus on three boys' age groups -- players born in 1996-97; 1998-99; and 2000-01 -- and be held at the Roeland Park Dome in Roeland Park, Kan., a Kansas City suburb.

The program includes separate training sessions for each age group on Friday, March 22, and Saturday, March 23, and a series of futsal I.D. games on Saturday and Sunday, March 24. 


Information and registration is available through coordinator Ty Stauffer at futsalid@usyouthfutsal.com or 1-270-570-0303, or Ryan Maxfield at  ryan.maxfield@usyouthfutsal.com

Players interested in participating in the FUTSAL ID Training Camp are required to have their club director or coach fill out a recommendation form available at https://register.htgsports.net/default.aspx?id=1459. Players selected for the camp will be notifiedby the US Youth Futsal Technical Committee.   

 
 






































































































Question and Answer with UEFA's competition manager for Futsal




Laurent Morel

Editor's Note: Several years ago, Luca Ranocchiari of www.futsalplanet.com conducted an interview with Laurent Morel, the competitions manager of futsal for UEFA. An edited version of the interview is reprinted here with thanks to the author, futsalplanet.com and to Laurent for his European perspective on the game. Futsal has grown quickly since Morel shared his views, especially in regard to its visibility in England, Turkey and elsewhere, but it still lags in regard to the Olympics and youth competitions.

Q: What do you think about the current state of European futsal?


A: Futsal is growing everywhere in Europe, but at a different speed. There is a huge amount of work to be done in every area of the development, mostly in the administrative structure and the marketing. The level of the teams has reached a sufficient level to bring incomes (TV, sponsors), but efforts have to be made around the teams and behind the scenes to support them.
 

Q: With reference to the previous question, in which areas does futsal still need to improve? And in what aspects has international futsal already reached a satisfactory level?


A: The image of futsal is the key element for a faster development. Historically, futsal has always suffered from the lack of uniformity. Today, in many important European countries, nobody knows about futsal (Germany, Turkey, France, UK), that is why communication strategies have to be created in these countries to attract people. Globally, futsal development in the last five years is really positive, new countries have developed leagues and launched a national team, and most of the countries should join the family within 10 years.

Q: What's the UEFA priority for Futsal? And above all: Is futsal something basic for UEFA?


A: UEFA wants to harmonize the Futsal administrative structure within the Football Associations. No matter what the model is, the futsal federation must be affiliated with the FA. With the big existing considerations -- years of development, disciplinary services, referees and coaches' education courses etc. -- the Football Associations have a long tradition and a huge expertise in the sport's development. Futsal cannot avoid co-operating with this entity, or it would damage (once again) the uniformity of the game. Today, futsal is part of Professional Division within UEFA, which clearly demonstrates to everybody that UEFA has made it a priority. We think that the European competitions can be further marketed and have a big potential of income, guaranteeing a bright future to the discipline.

Q: The main Futsal events run by UEFA are the European Championship and the UEFA Futsal Cup. Are you satisfied with them? What is UEFA  doing, eventually,  to improve them?


A: We are in close contact with associations and clubs. They bring us feedback and indicators. The level of both UEFA Futsal Cup and the UEFA European Futsal Championship has made big progress since their creation in 1999 and 2001, respecitvely. Today, the Futsal Cup Finals - and even the second qualifying round - are attracting people to the facilities. This year (2005-06) we are launching a new stage, with two semifinals, home-and-away, that will certainly be very attractive.
The formats are anyway in constant evolution, as we have more and more clubs and nations taking part, and we have also more and more TV audiences, Web site viewers, sponsor interests, etc., which allow us the answer to the needs.

Q: What are your thoughts about the fact that almost all the European top leagues are "dominated" by South American players, especially Brazilians? Does this mean there's a lack of technical development of European players? Is that a worry for the growth of the sport in Europe?


A: Futsal was born in South America and developed in Brazil more than 50 years ago. As I always say, if Brazil is five times World Champions in Football, that's partly because of futsal! In the Brazilian cities and suburbs, children are used to playing in reduced spaces, as is the case in futsal. They are learning technical skills, 1-v-1, decision making, etc., much earlier than in Europe and are much more advanced technically. But Europeans could easily reach the same level. The grassroots education and school programs would be a fruitful long-term strategy to develop the quality of the European players in futsal. We are working on that aspect as well in UEFA.

Q: Everybody agrees that youth futsal is a basic step for our sport's development. What is UEFA doing in this direction? According to the current regulations, only when Europe has  51 percent of  its football associations with a U-21 team will UEFA organize an U-21 official competition. Are we close to this happening?


A: The development of youth Futsal is part of the UEFA strategy. We are currently gathering information from all over Europe to have a clear picture of the development of youth futsal. Then, the next step will be to determine in which direction we would progress. The debate between an U-21 or U-19 European Championship exists, as not all countries would be able to build a  U-21 team, especially in the newcomer countries, but are focusing on a long-term projects for their national team. But we hope to launch an official competition by 2008.

Q: In your opinion, which European country is working in the best way for futsal?

 
A: Many of them are doing well with limited budgets and few resources. A good example is definitely Romania, that has built three divisions (local, regional and national) in a very short period of time. There is also a very proactive futsal committee: the national team has an exclusive sponsor and plays approximately 15 games a year, premiers division matches are broadcast on national TV, halls are full. I think this is a real "success story", and I would not be surprised if Romania had one of the top eight teams in Europe within 2 to 3 years.

Q: Futsal and mass media: What are the main difficulties in opening the doors and have more visibility?


A: It is clearly the image that keeps the media, especially TV, from being more involved. For instance, in Belgium, where the competition has been completely dominated for six years by (the team) Action 21, TV has no interest in broadcasting matches. In addition, the facilities themselves don't adapt well to Futsal on TV. When you have basketball, volleyball, tennis, badminton and handball markings on the same floor, the image is definitely not nice enough for the viewers. Today broadcasters need to sell an entertainment to the public, and they have requirements like seeing stands full of spectators (adapted TV positions), good lighting, only futsal markings, music, dancers, color of the pitch, statistics, big sponsors (for TV, "less is more," which means broadcasters prefer a few big sponsors over many local ones). Everything counts, also facilities for the media themselves are often insufficient and not attractive. But this will also take time, as clubs are generally depending on the local authorities for the use of the buildings and have to adapt themselves to the partnerships.

Q: Olympic Games: Do you believe we will manage to reach them?


A: That's the big question. Of course, it is FIFA that deals with the IOC on such an issue. I think it has made some progress, with the insertion of futsal at the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2007. These games are supervised by IOC and will probably serve to test futsal in a large-scale event. No doubt that the attendance, level of the matches and the TV audiences may influence IOC's decision on having futsal in future Olympics. Futsal has all the arguments in its favor, but is also dependent on the number of slots allocated at the Games for new sports. It will certainly be tough to have futsal at London 2012, but we will take every opportunity to make our beloved sport better known to the world. (Editor's note: Futsal was omitted from both the London games and 2016 games in Brazil.)

Saturday, February 23, 2013

2013 US Youth Futsal Nationals-Results

Here are the Champions and Finalist of the 2013 US Youth Futsal Nationals.

Congratulations to the Finalist and Champions
Gender Age Group Champion Finalist
Boys U8 BFA Nacional KC Fusion Navy 04/05 McTighe
Boys U9 City Futsal GLF All-Stars 9’s
Boys U10 KC Fusion Academy ’02/’03 Own Touch Futsal Academy U10 Boys
Boys U11 GLF All-Stars 11’s Own Touch Futsal Academy U11 Boys
Boys U12 Super Sporting BV Pachuca 00-01 City Futsal
Boys U12 Premier U12 StlFA - Red Legacy Wizards
Boys U13 Sporting KC Academy Navy Sporting Blue Valley NPL 99-00
Boys U14 GLF All-Stars 14’s SportsTutor 99
Boys U15 WI Futsal Academy U14 Sporting KC Academy White
Boys U16/17 BNC Revolution B U16 Sporting KC Academy
Boys U17 U17 Sporting KC Academy Celtic United
Girls U10 Long Island TCSA Premier
Girls U11 PAO U11 FutsalNH Chaos
Girls U12 Kicks Caraninho ’01 Elite
Girls U13 Pink Panthers - Pink S. Elam Blue
Girls U14 FutsalNH Crossfire Sporting BV Rowdies Sky Blue
Girls U15 Samba Black Girls U15 Elm Grove Blues
Girls U16 Elite PASA FC
Girls HS Waldo Pizza Delivery Girlz KC Strikers Black

Friday, February 22, 2013

Reader's Letter Leads to a Story Previously Untold


Our Futsal World newsletter is beginning to attract letters and reader opinions on issues related to futsal and the world of soccer in general. We think that's a very good thing and encourage you to join in (Have one? Write the editor at davidknopf48@gmail.com)

Whenever possible, we try to share those letters here and encourage your response. A conversation among people who are passionate about our sport can only increase everyone's understanding and speed futsal's development.

The following letter was sent by Paul Chapman, a native of Ireland who played for the Irish Universities National team during his days at University College Dublin.

In the late 1960s, Paul began to guide a club-status University of Minnesota soccer team into local and eventually Big Ten competition. We'll let Paul tell his own story since he does it so well.

Paul's first letter has to do with YMCA soccer programs; at our request, he followed up with some biographical information we found very interesting. Paul has a grandson who's a U8 player involved in futsal as well as outdoor soccer.

David, 

I have noticed that YMCAs appear to consider soccer development part of their territory but offer very poor development.

I think many parents who are first generation soccer Moms and Dads think they are offering their kids an opportunity to learn at the YMCA but this is not true based on what I have seen. 

It would be a shame if the YMCAs did not get the message since otherwise they will waste many talented youngsters whether we like it or not.
 

As a suggestion, why not have U.S. Soccer offer some sort of accreditation to YMCAs that offers programs that are endorsed by the US Soccer Federation?

Wouldn't it be better to at least have them offering futsal in starting out young players? At least then, the cream of the YMCA crop will presumably spin off to US Soccer development programs before they get left behind.
Regards,

-- Paul Chapman

















(Editor's note: The irony, of course, is that it was in a YMCA gym in Uruguay in 1930 that futsal was invented. Now here's Paul's second letter with a story he says is being told here for the first time!)

David, sorry for the delay in my response.
 

Back in the day: A newspaper article on Paul's efforts.
If you don't mind a little U.S. soccer history that has never been recorded, in the late 1960s as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, I appeared before the University of Minnesota Assembly Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics in an effort to establish a varsity soccer program there. 

I was unsuccessful in attaining that status, but I eventually got our team into a local amateur league. The U of M staged another first in those days when the university team played the first International game in Minnesota against a touring University team from Uruguay. 

The team was finally admitted into Big Ten competition even though we were still non-varsity, and in 1979 the U of M soccer team (still without varsity status) beat the University of Wisconsin varsity squad to reach the Big Ten final.

Alan Merrick, left, of the Minnesota Kicks, runs side by side with Pele.
Our opponent was the Indiana varsity squad in what was then labeled the Big Ten Classic Championship. Unfortunately, Jerry Yeagley was a better coach than I was and the Hoosiers swept the day.

Even today, when U of M soccer is in the experienced hands of Alan Merrick, it has not attained true varsity status. Some old guys like myself may recall that Alan was a star player for the Minnesota Kicks in the NASL days. Around then, when I was doing in-stadium commentaries of Kicks games, I remember Alan having the dubious honor of trying to contain Pele and he did himself credit.

For my part, my delight has been to pass on my love of the game to my grandson, who shows great promise as he is just turning eight. He learned to kick a ball before he could walk. Now, I try not to miss any of his games with the Edina Soccer Club U8s. 

One other comment! I am a big believer in the FIFA video soccer game as a way to improve spatial awareness of young players. I have seen this in my grandson, who has been beating me consistently since he was 5 and he has carried that awareness over into his real game. Spatial awareness is a very difficult thing to develop in young players and we should take advantage of soccer video games as a training tool in this regard.

Keep up the good work,
Paul Chapman

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Futsal Video Picks ...



Top five goals 2012 in Spain. Top futsal goals? Spain? Isn't that redundant? More than likely, there'd be a few Brazilians and Portuguese who'd argue, "Hey, what about us?" Point taken.






World Women’s Futsal Tournament highlights
Sent by Marlene Moura Laundos … she’s from Portugal. True to form, Brazil wins the international tournament.







In Europe, futsal coaches shuffle formations the way Las Vegas dealers do decks of cards  in the U.S. We thought our U.S. and Canadian coaches who like to wheel and deal would appreciate watching this UEFA training ground video on the top futsal nations’ preferred formations







Xavi explains why futsal’s his beautiful game. We like Xavi, so if he likes futsal, logic says we like the game, too ... and we do.




This video comes to us courtesy of the Facebook page “Futsal Training”. Although the video’s not in English, the visual aspect of the film clearly demonstrates a futsal move called “sleep,” a roll with the sole and then a quick stop. “Sleep,” combined with a hesitation and an explosive dribble, can be used to bypass a defender (see the last frames of the clip). This is a favorite of Falcao and many other top futsal internationals.


While we're talking training, let's look at a drill England goalkeeper coach Andy Reading uses to improve reaction time, make saves to the left and the right, and follow a disciplined procedure, almost a checklist (i.e. touching the towel on the crossbar after a save). Notice that the keeper alternates a sliding foot save on one side, a diving hand save on the other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvmCibtp8-8
 



Here’s a clip of live action from a women’s game in Australia, where futsal is growing rapidly. A few things stood out – a very effective Maradona spin to evade a defender along the touchline early in the highlights, a player dumping the ball to a teammate behind her and then quickly rotating to provide cover once the teammate moves forward and the propensity of both teams to shoot from distance. The women’s game isn’t as advanced as the men’s in Australia, but it surpasses the current opportunity level for women in the U.S. (Learn more at http://futsaloz.com.au/)
Here's the link to the highlights ...
http://t.co/6nLewS3F