Coaches, players treated to clinic by Ivan Pico Martinez, a Spanish futsal coach and former professional player

By David Knopf

Futsal World Editor

     German Arguelles' profession is to arrange sports tours and guide teams through the maze of foreign travel.

     But it took more than tickets and an itinerary to get Spanish futsal coach Ivan Pico Martinez to Kansas City for the U.S. Youth Futsal Nationalst.

Ivan Pico Martinez, right, was assisted by German Arguelles.

Martinez, manager of Azkar Lugo, a team in the Spanish professional league, led a coaches' clinic on the eve of the first tournament games at the Overland Park Convention Center.

     His path to Kansas City was fortuitous -- and a matter of the right connections.

Jon Parry, director of U.S. Youth Futsal, was in Holland earlier this year as a member of Peter Vermes's coaching staff with Generation adidas, a team of Major League Soccer players. Vermes manages MLS' Sporting Kansas City franchise, while Parry serves as academy director of Sporting Juniors. Both are former U.S. National Futsal Team players.

     During their trip, Parry asked Aguelles if he had any dealings with futsal in Europe. As it turns out, Aguelles is acquainted with Javier Lozano, the former Spanish National Futsal Team manager and current president of Spain's Liga Nacional Futbol Sala.
The league is considered the best in the world.

     "German was coming to Kansas City and said we'd talk some more," Parry said.

Azkar Lugo is in Liga Nacional, Spain's professional league.

     The talk led to Arguelles and Lozano helping connect Parry with Martinez, who before turning to coaching spent seven years playing for Azkar Lugo in the Liga Nacional.

     As the overseer of all levels of youth development for Azkar, Martinez had the perfect resume to share his futsal knowledge with American coaches and players. In fact, as head of his club's academy, his responsibilities in Spain were very similar to Parry's in the U.S.

     "They're like the Barcelona of futsal over there," Parry said of Azkar Lugo's emphasis on developing its first-team players from the academy. "They want to have eight or nine of their guys to be from their academy."

 Sporting Juniors Director Jon Parry

     Although Martinez's English is limited, Arguelles is fluent and served as his assistant and interpreter at the clinic. While Martinez was setting up drills for a group of Parry's Sporting Juniors players, Arguelles walked the court's perimeter to explain to coaches in attendance what the structure and purpose of each drill was.

     The fast-paced, 90-minute training session had the Sporting players moving from one drill to another. Some of the drills seemed familiar, while others broke new ground for the high school-aged Sporting players.

Martinez worked with a group of Sporting KC Juniors players.

     Arguelles assisted Martinez in setting up the session, but even with his limited English the Azkar coach spoke the universal language of soccer and the players caught on quickly.

     Parry said U.S. Youth Futsal had invested in bringing Martinez to Kansas City to spark new ideas for American coaches in planning their own training sessions.

    "We've invested a lot in the league this year," Parry said.

It's not the first time the USYF national tournament has featured a coaches' clinic. Keith Tozer, coach of the U.S. National Futsal Team and a FIFA Futsal Clinician, led the session in 2011.

     This year's tournament drew 109 teams a healthy jump from the 91 that came a year ago.

Have a story idea or comment? You can contact David at davidknopf48@gmail.com.