6-week Winter Friday Girls High School Pre-Season Futsal Clinic Series

Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced, small-sided football game that originates from South America in the 1930s. It is widely played across the world and is the small-sided football format that is officially recognized by both UEFA and FIFA. Ever heard of Messi or Ronaldo, Ronahldino or Neymar? These are some of the very best soccer players in the world who credit futsal as a huge part of their development and the reason why they became the player they are today.

Futsal is a game of imagination and creativity, deception and lies, that uses teamwork and synergy to outscore the opponent. Players are required to manipulate and master the ball, and invade and exploit space in a high-pressure, high-reward environment. Subsequently, futsal is an excellent breeding ground for football competencies that can be translated into the 11-a-side format of the game.

Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced small-sided soccer game that is widely played across the world.

The nature of the game places a large emphasis on technical skill and ability in situations of high pressure, and is subsequently an excellent breeding ground for soccer competencies that can be translated into the 11-a-side format of the game.

Many of the top world class soccer players played Futsal in their youth and credit it with supporting their soccer development; players of the caliber of Pele, Zico, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Messi, and Ronaldo to name just a few legends.

Ronaldinho once stated that, “Futsal is an extremely important way for kids to develop their skills and understanding of the game.”.

While traditional Futsal is played on a hard court surface, we decided on synthetic turf vs. hard court flooring for our fields for a few reasons.

1. We wanted the facility to be accessible to all ages and ability levels. With synthetic turf, the ball will roll slightly slower allowing for better control at all ages.
2. The cushioned ground will be safer for both players and goalkeepers; and
3. We will be using the fields in-season for our competitive teams limiting the number and types of shoes our players need to purchase.

Futsal and small-sided soccer is an effective development tool that is quickly replacing the conventional US walled indoor soccer game.

Small-sided soccer creates honesty within the game, providing isolation of individual talent and technique. It will isolate and expose a team and player’s deficiencies. It will also showcase a player and team’s strengths. The game is fast and numerous finishing opportunities are offered when played well. Technical and tactical speeds are emphasized. A bad touch or a slow recovery will almost always result with a loss of possession. Quite frequently the lesson is driven home with a goal scored by the opposition. These lessons learned hard are not easily forgotten. The satisfying thing about small-sided soccer is that lessons are quickly learned and that players readily adjust themselves to the game’s demands. Coaching clinicians have often stressed that the game is the best teacher. By putting players in learning situations, the results of the decisions and their technical execution will educate them with a minimum of coaching involvement.

Players must wear futsal shoes only. Black-soled shoes will not be allowed on the courts.