Editor’s
Note: If you didn’t see this in April when Soccer
America published it as part of its Youth Soccer Insider, it’s a must-read
– especially after Keith Tozer and his players swept three games in England at the Four Nations tournament
Mike Woitalla, the author, is also a coach, and his questions for Tozer are
knowledgable. Seeing U.S. Soccer step up its inclusion of futsal in
youth development is very positive, not just for futsal enthusiasts, but fans
of the outdoor game, as well.
We suggest you take a look at www.socceramerica.com if you're not familiar with the publication’s informative newsletters. SA, the best and longest-tenured soccer publication in the
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Our thanks,
as always, for the work SA does and its generosity in allowing USYF’s Futsal
World to link and reprint its articles.
-- David Knopf,
Editor, davidknopf48@gmail.com
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Keith Tozer leads a discussion at the recent United States Youth Futsal Summit in Milwaukee. USYF leak owners, coaches and officials attended the summit in conjunction with Tozer's training sessions for the national team before it left for the Four Nations Tournament in England. Photo courtesy of Soorena Farboodmanesh.
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| Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla |
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| Kieth Tozer as a player for the Cincinnati Kids in 1978-99 |
Interview by Mike Woitalla
Play in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy's new U-13/14 age group -- with
about a 100 teams -- begins this fall and futsal will be part the schedule.
U.S. Soccer has also started hosting U-14 futsal events, including a 32-team
tournament at the Home Depot Center held in late April (another is planned for Philadelphia). We speak with Keith Tozer,
U.S. national futsal team coach since 1996, on futsal's value to the
development of young players.
SOCCER AMERICA: Why is U.S. Soccer advocating futsal for young players?
KEITH TOZER: One thing I’ll never forget is when I was in Madrid for my
FIFA [futsal] instructor conference. The president of the Spanish futbol
federation opened it up. He said one reason why the World Cup trophy is in the
building next door is because many years ago, Spain decided that futsal needed
to be part of the youth development in Spain.
I’m extremely excited that now our Federation has stamped it and said it must
be part of our youth development. There’s nothing but an upswing to what is
going to transpire.
SA: How does futsal benefit young players?
KEITH TOZER: Ten or 12 years ago, there was the emphasis of going to
small-sided games for youth development. I thought, well, that’s just futsal.
What futsal does is it gives you many more touches on the ball. Your technical
ability is in overdrive, where you’re becoming technically sounder at a quicker
pace because of the smallness of the field. With the lack of space, you have to
react quicker and think quicker.
I compare it to a golfer. A golfer hits thousands of balls during the week with
his driver and only pulls out his driver in a round of 18 maybe five, six,
seven, eight times, but hits those thousand balls in order to perfect it.
That’s what futsal does in all the aspects: movement off the ball, movement
with the ball, dribbling, shooting, proper runs, goalkeeper. It’s soccer on
high speed.
SA: How does the smaller ball, with less bounce, help players develop
skills?
KEITH TOZER: It’s funny. In America everything’s super-sized. At
McDonald’s for an extra buck you get bigger fries. At the shopping mall for an
extra $5 you get more. In our country, it’s bigger is better.
You go outside our country every player wants to play with a smaller ball. Why
a smaller ball? Well if you can answer the equation of soccer with a smaller
ball, what can you do with a normal size 5?
The [futsal] size 4 ball with little bounce to it stays at a player’s feet more
and is very inducive to increasing the technical ability of the player.
SA: Futsal also encourages players control the ball by putting the sole of
their foot on top of it …
KEITH TOZER: One reason for that is the hard surface. If you receive the
ball with the inside of the foot it has the tendency to pop up. Using the sole
enables you to relieve pressure away from a defender, to smooth the ball out.
Ten years ago, for an outdoor player to use the sole of the foot in this
country, people would frown on it. “Don’t use the sole, use the inside or
outside or instep.” But if you look at some of the top outdoor players in the
world, a lot of times, especially when their back is to the goal, they use the
sole of their foot. ... These are just technical things that are becoming more
prevalent now because of futsal.
SA: When you have the sole on top of the ball, you can move it in any
direction …
KEITH TOZER: Especially when you have a player on your back, using the
sole on top of the ball allows you to hold the ball for a player to run off you
or pull it around to shoot.
SA: Compare futsal to indoor soccer with sideboards, which has long been
popular in the USA.
KEITH TOZER: I’ve been involved indoor soccer with the boards since
1978. I love the game, it’s a great game. But I think there’s an evolution
that’s coming to the indoor game. It all comes down to the coaching.
[Editor’s note: Tozer, who played a decade of indoor ball in the MISL and
AISA, has coached indoor soccer since 1984 and has been head coach of the
MISL’s Milwaukee Wave since 1992.]
About 12 years ago, I started to introduce futsal tactics to the indoor game.
In my training sessions, if I play you the ball and I miss you, the whistle
will be blow.
Normally in years past, because of your physicality and it hits the boards and
you win it back, I actually forget that I gave you a bad pass. Outdoor soccer
that’s a throw-in. Futsal that’s a kick in.
I think the indoor game can definitely help develop a lot of our youth players.
It has one more player than futsal and it’s got the boards, but there’s got to
be some modification to it and I think you’ll start to see that.
A lot of people like to play the boards. You can have an hour and get as much
action as you can. In futsal, obviously you have to have better control. Your
passes have to be more precise. The field is much smaller than an indoor field,
if you cannot move before or after you get the ball, it’s going to be difficult
game for you.
SA: Is playing with boards better with the youngest kids because the ball
stays in play and you have more non-stop action?
KEITH TOZER: We recently had an ID camp in Kansas City for United States
Youth Futsal. What we noticed is when futsal is introduced to the 6-, 7- and
8-year-olds -- they are so much more fluid and start working on their technical
ability. They were more technical than the older players.
I equate it to if you ever seen a kid 7, 8 or 9 swing a golf club for the first
time. It’s very fluid. It’s beautiful. There’s no bad habits. It’s not rigid.
But if a kid doesn’t swing a golf club until 15 or 16, it’s ugly.
That’s why futsal is so great to introduce early. Yeah, the ball may go out of
bounds a little bit, but I guarantee you that month after the month the
technical ability will get much better.
That’s why I’m so excited that U.S. Soccer said futsal’s got to be part of our
youth program. We have tremendous goalkeepers, we have great hard-working
defenders, we have tremendous hard-working midfielders.
This is another teaching tool in order to get the player who you need to play
outside the box … who when he has no other options, can beat three or four guys
to score a goal.
