I've always liked futsal and I've always enjoyed training in gyms during the winter months. I loved the whole idea of a confined area and just letting the kids play and figure it out. Given the chance, they show you some pretty good stuff. And being in a confined area, there is no where to hide; if you're on, you're involved.
Playing in a confined area on a hard court naturally brings out athletic, tactical and technical qualities that are required to excel and succeed. Using a regular soccer ball instead of a futsal ball turns the game into a pinball machine. The
characteristics of the ball (less bounce) further bring out good qualities in a player.
Futsal has everything you want as a coach. More 1v1 confrontations. Quicker movements and decisions, on and off the ball. Non-stop problem solving. No downtime. Required creativity. Very demanding on the players abilities.
Need some info on futsal? Read this: http://www.torontofutsal.ca/futsal/why-futsal/ or http://www.futsalclubtoronto.com/about.html or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futsal .
People in Canada are slowly adopting Futsal as a part of their programs.
Back to the weekend.
Our first guests were boys who will be U12 in 2014. Our second guests were boys who will be U10 in 2014. My brother brought his u12 team and two friends brought some boys from their u10 teams.
Our session was simple. We gave them a few exercises to familiarize themselves with the ball, then let them play. There was zero to little adult interference.
The U10s did well. As time passed more and more started figuring out how to be more effective. One of the coaches brought his younger son ... and he figured it out first. He was occasionally muscled off the ball but he started using his turns and quick passes almost immediately. One at a time, the kids were making sense of the new setup and the entertainment level went up. This is a group I would like to see again.
"Within 15 minutes it seemed like everything we preached all summer came flying out. "The U12s freaked me out. In a capacity of assistance to my brother, we worked with them this past summer. They are a decent bunch and great kids, but I occasionally found them to be stubborn and undisciplined. Within 15 minutes it seemed like everything we preached all summer came flying out. Most of them were knocking the ball around and creating chances like I've never seen them do. But that's not what gave me pleasure. Listening to them communicate and coach each other into place was fun to listen to. They were not afraid to ramp up the chirping.
Another quality that improved over time, for both groups, was their collective attempt to make decisions sooner and execute quicker. Some did not have the technical ability to follow through on those decisions, but they knew they had to be quicker.
For the u12s, I almost think they watched some futsal video and thought "OK, I have to play it that way" and imitated. Hopefully they realize they need to take those ideas and habits and use them outdoor.
There will be much more to come.
