USYF adds leagues in New York, California and Alaska

United States Youth Futsal has added several new leagues spanning from the New York area on the East Coast to Anchorage, Alaska in the Far Northwest.

In addition to Robert DeVassie's league in Anchorage -- Robert will be assisted by Brazilian league director Felipe Abreu -- USYF has added Long Island (N.Y.) Futsal (http://usyouthfutsal.com/longislandfutsal/index_E.html), a 200-team, 2,100-player organization that has been sponsoring futsal leagues for 15 years. It was previously affiliated with USFF. 

USYF has also added Gotham Futsal (http://www.usyouthfutsal.com/gothamfutsal/index_E.html), a league that will operate in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.

USYF is proud to also have been joined by a Northern California league operated by Vava Marques, longtime college soccer coach and assistant coach on the U.S. Men's National Team. Vava, a Brazilian, has long been a passionate advocate for futsal in the United States. (www.vavamarques.com).

U.S. Youth Futsal offers new league owners the most detailed support system of any futsal organization. John Sciore, USYF director of development, operates the 200-plus team St. Louis USYF league and is also director of the national tournament. He can help prospective league owners through the start-up phase -- locating a facility, recruiting teams, hiring certified referees etc. You can contact John through the organization's Web site at http://www.usyouthfutsal.com/startaleague/benefitsofaffiliation/index_E.html

John personally replies to all inquiries.

Futsal Briefs ... World Cup, No Olympic Futsal, Wisconsin University includes futsal in training lineup

A little bit about some of this, some of that, all things futsal …

Thailand 2012 field set

The lineup for the FIFA Futsal World Cup, Nov. 1-18 in Thailand, has been set for weeks. But as of Aug. 24, the official draw and six groups of four teams were made public.

Qualifiers for the World Cup include teams from the following confederations: AFC (Asia) – Australia, Japan, Iran, Kuwait; Africa (CAF) – Egypt, Morocco, Libya; Europe (UEFA) – Czech Republic, Portugal, Serbia, Ukraine, Italy, Russia, Spain; Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) – Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama; Oceania – Solomon Islands; South America (CONMEBOL) – Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay.

The official draw for the Cup took place in Bankok.

This is the seventh FIFA Futsal World Cup with 24 teams split into six groups. Hosts Thailand are in Group A and will be hoping to overcome Costa Rica, Ukraine and Paraguay to make it through to the Round of 16.

Some of the details on the groups from www.fifa.com:

Reigning FIFA Futsal World Cup winners Brazil were the first team drawn in Group C and will face experienced opponents from three different continents: Japan, Libya and Portugal. Spain meanwhile, who on paper are the team most likely to dent the South American title-holder's chances of defending the cup, find themselves in Group B alongside Iran, Panama and Morocco.

Group D looks to be the most balanced of the six, with Argentina, Mexico, Italy and Australia all having the potential to make it through to the knock-out stages. Group E includes Egypt, Serbia, Czech Republic and Kuwait. The final group of four teams, Group F, pairs Russia, Solomon Islands, Colombia and CONCACAF’s Guatemala.

Thailand coach Vic Hermans gave his reaction to the draw, expressing confidence in his team's ability to reach the knockout stage. "Of course I’m confident," he said. "When you look at Ukraine, Paraguay and Costa Rica, the first reaction is, 'That’s tough'. But we have a good young team and we beat Iran at the AFC Championship in Dubai, which was not expected of us. Based on our performances there, I’m 100 per cent confident we can progress to the second round."

Miguel Rodrigo, coach of the AFC Futsal Championship winners Japan,  was cautiously optimistic about the draw. "We're playing in a really difficult group. I have hope and I trust in my team to move on to the second round. The latest results against Portugal and Brazil and our win in the Asian Championships this year make me optimistic."

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The World Cup is still a couple of months away, but the following may jump start your appetite:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9uzY1sxHQU&feature=fvwrel

No futsal in 2016 Olympics

There were two open spots for sports and initially seven sports began the bidding to be included in the 2016 games. Baseball and softball, which were dropped from the program in 2005, karate, squash, golf, roller sports and rugby union all applied to be included. 

Leaders of the seven sports held presentations in front of the IOC executive board in June 2009.

Futsal has been discussed as an Olympic sport, but it was not among those considered for 2016.

In August, the Olympics executive board initially gave its approval to rugby sevens  — a seven-man version of rugby union — by a majority vote and removed baseball, roller sports and squash from the running. Of the other three, golf, karate, and softball, the board approved golf for the 2016 Olympics.

In May 2012, the International Sailing Federation announced that windsurfing would be removed from the 2016 Olympics and be replaced by kitesurfing.

The 2016 Summer Olympics will feature 28 sports.

Marquette joins trend of colleges, universities offering futsal

The trend of American and Canadian colleges and universities using futsal leagues and camps as a fundraiser for intercollegiate programs is alive and well in Milwaukee.

Marquette University recently announced its 2012-13 Youth Futsal Leagues, which begin Nov. 10 for boys and girls ages U8-U14. The league is coordinated by the Marquette University Soccer School and all futsal matches will be played on campus in the school gym.

Games will be played weekly through the final day of playoffs in February. The contact listed is Coach Marcelo Santos at 414-288-4503. Marquette hosts soccer and futsal camps year-round in a number of formats.

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Hot Links ... Tasty Morsels off the Futsal Griddle

Danny Waltman … in the third and first person

Danny Waltman, U.S. National Futsal Team goalie, is featured by The News Tribune, a newspaper in his home state of Washington (see below). Waltman discusses the value of futsal in training youth players in this country and the disadvantage the U.S. faces internationally without a professional futsal league. Following the newspaper article, there’s a link to the forum his professional indoor team, the MISL Missouri Comets, provided for Waltman to talk about his futsal experience. It wasn’t long ago that advocates of indoor soccer wouldn’t talk about futsal and vice versa. Hopefully, with players like Danny Waltman that’s over.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/08/15/2255962/danny-waltman-an-american-futsal.html

http://www.cometsindoorsoccer.com/news/articledetail.php?articleid=202

 

Tim Sheldon tackles an oft-repeated misconception

Tim Sheldon, owner of the Web site www.futsalonline.com, has been around soccer and futsal long enough that he knows things don’t become true just because they’re repeated over and over. Take the weight of a futsal ball, for example, compared to an outdoor ball. Check Tim’s site for a steady diet of futsal news from around the planet.

http://www.futsalonline.com/weightoffutsalball.html

What's missing in U.S. National Futsal team forumla? 

Tim Sheldon's take on what  the U.S. will need if it hopes to compete in CONCACAF and international futsal. The jist: "The U.S. may continue to bring very good players to the tournament, but if they don't play Futsal full-time they will continually be beaten by superior Futsal speed, precision, skill and tactics."

Read the column at http://futsalonline.com/usmustknowfutsaltactics072812.html

10-year-old player from Naples Futsal invited to train with the Barcelona youth academy in Spain

Augustine Anello

Augustine Anello, a member of the U10 Eagles Futsal Academy team in Naples, Fla., has been invited to train with the Barcelona club in Spain. The opportunity came after Augustine caught the eyes of scouts at a Barcelona camp in Miami last spring.

Augustine went to Miami with his parents, where he started playing in his age group and was promoted to play with U12 players.  

“At the end of the camp, Barcelona coaches approached the parents to inform them that they were interested in Augustine integrating training of their lower-division club (and) for that he would have to move to Barcelona,” said Luis Fernando Orellana, owner of the USYF-affiliated Naples Futsal league. “After the summer, the family will be traveling to Barcelona for a year to test whether Augustine Anello is eligible to join the club as a resident. Dan his father saw the excellent opportunity for the future of his child and is supporting him because he knows we have a future star of Argentina blood in the future Barca.”

Agustin played two seasons with Naples Futsal, Orellana said, one with his dad’s team  and later with the Eagles.

“I saw how futsal is helping a lot of kids improve the level of play because of playing futsal in the league and also practicing futsal and pickup futsal games,” the owner said. “His dad Dan is crazy about his improvement and all the time is looking for something to do so Agustine can play a better level.”

Luis Fernando Orellana

Orellana, a native of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, has a strong background in the game himself, and has injected a passionate South American flavor into his league and attracted the attention of local Hispanic television stations. They have featured Naples Futsal at least three times with programs consisting of interviews, highlights and music.

Orellana began playing futsal at 9 at the school Rio Nuevo and progressed to the Soccer Association Cruceña ACFS when he was 16. He formed his own club, Club Cristo Viene, in 1996, starting with juniors down to the sub-14 for younger players.

After 10 years of playing futsal himself at various levels through the first division, Orellana emigrated to the U.S. in 2003 with the idea of ​​forming a school for soccer or futsal. Two years later, he began coaching with the Doral Soccer Academy in Miami, then moved to Naples in hopes of starting his own academy and a futsal league in an area still unfamiliar with the sport.

In  2007, Orellana founded Eagle Soccer Club Academy in the Golden Gate Community park, following that in October 2009 with Naples Futsal, which he founded with the support of County Parks and Recreation and Vicky Collier.

Naples Futsal was featured on Telemundo Fort Myers and, more recently, on Azteca America's Dimenzion Sport . You can watch the highlights and interviews at http://youtu.be/wcw2Om9ZGE0 http://youtu.be/wcw2Om9ZGE0

You can learn more about Naples Futsal on its Web site, http://naplesfutsal.com/Click on “Gallery” and then “Video” to watch the many films Orellana has posted. His leagues have been very successful at the adult level, as well as with youth, with teams having the distinct flavor of the South American countries they represent.

-- David Knopf

Letter to the Editor: ... "with the right focus early on, American youth players can be every bit as good as anyone else in the world with futsal being the common denominator."

To the Editor:

I enjoyed reading your article on Lucas Stauffer. It sounds like his training environment was very similar to our current focus as a futsal club.

I decided to take you up on your request for a story idea because I think we have a recent one that would be of interest to your audience. Two brothers from our Charlotte, N.C.-based Barefoot Futsal Academy program recently had the opportunity to train at one of the top futsal academies in Brazil. It was a fantastic experience for the boys and their dad and he documented much of the trip on a special blog at http://gingafactory.com/. 

We were delighted to learn that both boys could hold their own technically with the top players in the Brazilian academy and that they were even invited to play in several elite team matches against rival academies. (They primarily had to adjust to the faster speed of play of the Brazilians.)

It shows that with the right focus early on, American youth players can be every bit as good as anyone else in the world with futsal being the common denominator.

 -- Paul Roderique
Barefoot Futsal, LLC

Editor's Note: You can read about the two brothers' trip to Brazil elsewhere in this issue. We welcome your letters, opinions and story ideas. You can send them to the editor at davidknopf48@gmail.com.