Futsal is the FIFA and UEFA recognised form of small-sided football. Keen to emphasise the South American roots of a sport that the likes of Ronaldo and Pele all grew up playing, Futsal was the name chosen by FIFA for the only version of 5-aside football that it supports.
Futsal is still in the embryonic stages of development in England and until the introduction of the first official National Championships organised by The FA in July 2003, had been left to individual groups of futsal pioneers to develop the game in their local areas. Essentially 5-aside but with some twists on how the game is currently played across most of England, Futsal has been designed to provide a high paced, energetic, fast flowing game for spectators at the same time as allowing players to be at their most creative by protecting those showing attacking flair.
This workshop was run in conjunction with the Futsal Premier League (The FPL) who currently runs regional adult Futsal leagues. The FPL currently coordinates the Kent Adult Futsal League which is played on Wednesday evenings at Bennett High School, Tunbridge Wells. If you would like to enter a team into this league or for more information on Futsal developments please visit the FPL website on www.thefpl.com.
The workshop participants were given information on the history of Futsal, worldwide participation, current participation in England, FA Development priorities and the laws of the game. After this the participants were invited into the Indoor Sports Hall and were taken through some skills and tactics by two of the FPL coaches, Sami and Marcelo. The workshop finished with a match in order to give participants full appreciation of the game. The feedback from all the coaches was excellent and they all stated how good the game would be for youngsters in developing ball skills.
This workshop was an ideal taster session for the forthcoming FA Level 1 ‘Introduction to Futsal’ Coaching Course to be held at Kent College in Pembury. For more information on the Kent County FA Coaches Association, please contact Paul Dolan on 01634 812 032 or email paul.dolan@kentfa.com.