Futsal in England

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Futsal is a growing sport in England.

England has a national team, coached by Graeme Dell[1] and run by the The Football Association.[1]

The FA are planning a three conference national league system, kicking off in February 2008, which will be the first official national league in England.

It has long been the key to Brazil's dominance of world football, with superstars Ronaldo, Pelé and Ronaldinho all attributing their dazzlings skills to playing Futsal. Other footballing greats such as Johan Cruyff and Michael Owen have used Futsal to develop their flair, touch and amazing skills.

At the heart of Futsal is the smaller and reduced bounce ball. Pace, skill, teamwork and high drama characterize the indoor game while developing close individual ball skills and control.

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[edit] Grassroots

Futsal has become an increasingly popular sport among both young children still at School, and among University students. The nature of the game is such that it compliments the skills needed for full 11-a-side football (or soccer) and can be a valuable way to improve key skills such as close control, vision in the field of play, and individual techniques and skills. Futsal at a grass-roots level includes a number of local tournaments for Universities, such as the Futsal Premier League[2], tournaments in local areas (such as the Grimsby tournament) or the York University PWC Open [3] which features many different university sides competing against one another. It is equally true that the English sides are becoming more and more interested in travelling abroad to again continue to learn the fine game of Futsal. Teams travel to a variety of locations to participate in tournaments at a variety of levels. One such tournament, the International Universities Totelos Tournament (IUTT)[4] has seen numerous British Universities play in a large 4 day tournament. Participants have included York St. John's college, the University of East Anglia, The University of York, The University of Glanmorgan, and the University of Gloucester, as well as a few independent teams formerly associated with various universities. Of the participants, both the University of East Anglia, and the University of York, have managed Top 10 finishes in this large tournament. [5]

[edit] Professional Futsal

Professionally, there are some English teams that promote Futsal at a higher level, and international competitions do feature British sides. However, their ranking is such that it is not terribly impressive as yet. The UK is on a steep learning curve, however, and will look to improve things over time. Jay Corran and Andrew Reading became England's first professional Futsal players when they signed for Odorheiu Secuiesc (Romania) from Tranmere Victoria Futsal Club in July 2004.

[edit] The FA Umbro Futsal League

The FA Umbro Futsal League began in 2008 and features 23 teams in 3 conferences; 8 in the Northern Conference, 7 in the Midlands Conference and 8 in the Southern Conference. It is the highest level of futsal within England, with the winners and runners-up of the 3 conferences advamcing to an end of season tournament to determine the national champions and England's representatives in the UEFA Futsal Cup.

[edit] Northern Conference

The central venue for the Northern Conference is the Hillsborough Leisure Centre in Sheffield, although games have also taken place at the University of Teeside in Middlesborough, the Gemtec Arena in Hull, and Northgate Arena Leisure Centre in Chester. The teams involved are as follows:

FC Grimsby
Futsal Club Barsa
Hull Futsal Club
Manchester Futsal Club
Middlesborough Futsal Club
Sheffield & Hallamshire Futsal Club
Sheffield FC Futsal Club
Tranmere Victoria Futsal Club

[edit] Midlands Conference

The central venue for the Midlands Conference is Nechells Community Sports Centre in Birmingham. The teams involved are as follows:

Birmingham Tigers
Ipswich Wolves
Loughborough University
Preston Futsal Club
Team Bath Futsal Club
Team United Birmingham Futsal Club
The New Saints Futsal Club

[edit] Southern Conference

The venues for the Southern Conference are University of Hertfordshire, Bethnal Green Tech College and the Space Centre in Leyton. The teams involved are as follows:

Baltic Futsal Club
FCF Corinthians FC
FC Enfield formally FS Northaw
Helvecia Futsal
Kickers Futsal
Maidstone United FC
Vaughans FC
White Bear Futsal Club

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Graeme Dell column. TheFA.com.
  2. ^ The Futsal Premier League Home Page
  3. ^ University of York Futsal Club: 1st Annual York University Futsal Mens Open
  4. ^ Futsal Planet
  5. ^ http://www.totelos.nl/iutt2006

[edit] External links


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