'Finding the Game": While futsal's not directly mentioned, it's often implied

By David Knopf

Futsal World Editor

Gwendolyn Oxenham

There is no mention of the word futsal in Gwendolyn Oxenham’s book “Finding the Game.” Nor does she refer to futebol de salão, el fútbol sala, fútbol de salón, microfutbol or mini-soccer, all variations of futsal, the word we use in North America and the term FIFA and U.S. Soccer use to describe the smaller variation of the formal 11v11 outdoor game.

But in reading Oxenham’s book, an intimate description of the filming of “Pelada” – subtitled “Three Years, Twenty-five Countries and the Search for Pickup Soccer” – the unlabeled references to what we call futsal were plentiful.

In visiting Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Kenya, France, Iran, Palestine and the others, Oxenham and her three American filmmaking companions search for “pelada,” a word Brazilians use to describe the game as “naked” – a spontaneous sport played with passion and imagination without organized trappings such as uniforms, referees, spectators, standings and the like.

In America, we would refer to it as pickup soccer or a kick-around. As the four Americans find, every country has “pelada” and its own word to describe it.

A person unfamiliar with futsal and the fascination with dribbling “tricks” it has spawned, wouldn’t see the connections with “pelada”. But for me, the overlap with futsal was obvious, even if Oxenham doesn’t use the word.

Most striking, is how much informal soccer the filmmakers find that’s played on pavement. There are formal courts, including one on the roof of a Tokyo skyscraper where businessmen (and, we presume, businesswomen) play pickup games after work. But many of the games Oxenham and her friends find are played are hard-surfaced streets and alleys.

In watching trailer videos for the movie “Pelada” (see the links below), on these surfaces the ball is played flat on the ground, with little bounce. Either the players are exceptional or the balls are of the low-bounce variety we use for futsal.

Oxenham, a former Duke University women’s player who played a year of professional soccer with the Brazilian club Santos, often writes about the intense pressure in these games, where decisions are made quickly and, more often than not, the escape routes are either a quick one-two or a cheeky move to regain some space.

Oxenham and her boyfriend Luke, a former Notre Dame player, encounter an adolescent Brazilian girl who’s referred to as Ronaldinha. Her nickname is the feminine variant of Ronaldinho, the country’s magnificent men’s player who, like many Brazilians, grew up playing futsal.

This is how the girl, 13, is described in the book:

“We all see the kid at the same time and go silent. We stare at the tiny blur who’s toying with the ball, laughing every time she dribbles by someone as though she’s just pulled off a fantastic joke.”

Oxenham’s description is of the girl’s inventive skill and speed, but also of her passion and the joy she finds in the game. If there’s a message here, it’s that she comes from a poor family in a “favela,” one of the most dangerous parts of the city, an area governed by drug dealers. Her house, Oxenham says, is “the size of a garden shed.” The street address is spray-painted on a wall.

When the filmmaking team watches her play, Ronaldinho’s mother says, “My daughter is poor. If she rises, it is out of nothing … she wants this and I want it for her. I’m behind her no matter what.”

Whoever reads “Finding the Game” will see something different, come away with personal conclusions. Aside from the unlabeled references to futsal, what struck me in this collection of extremely well-written, vivid stories is that love for the game and the opportunities it provides – self-expression, creativity, joy and teamwork – is everywhere. But it is nowhere more passionate than in the poorest areas.

With the hard, fast surface and often a low-bounce ball, the game is futsal no matter what it's called.

In Brazil, for example, the filmmakers come across a street that is blocked off and labeled by a sign that says “Ruia de Lazer.” Oxenham’s boyfriend speaks Portuguese and translates it as “Street of Leisure”. It’s basically a pick-up game played in the street by barefooted children, one in which a net hangs poorly attached from a small goal.

This is “pelada” at its core.

In Africa, the filmmakers who encounter children who stitch together their own futsal-like balls, balls smaller even than a children’s-size No. 3. Oxenham describes the balls as very dense and not given to bounce much.

Again, I see futsal and how it evolved from pick-up games played on hard surfaces in places too poor to have the manicured parks and complexes we enjoy in North America.

“Finding the Game” (2012, St. Martin’s Press) is a fascinating book, viewed through a futsal prism or any other. Oxenham understands the game, feels its passion and writes with a clarity befitting her master of fine arts degree in writing from Notre Dame. According to the liner notes, she teaches English and “plays in pickup games in Southern California.”

If it’s on a hard surface, it might well be futsal or a close relative.

To view the trailer for “Pelada,” click on these links:

Short version

http://vimeo.com/9869545

Longer version

http://vimeo.com/3885949

You can write the editor at davidknopf48@gmail.com. David started the first organized futsal league in Missouri and still coaches outdoor soccer and futsal.