I've been organizing our academy kids for in-house futsal. Most of the kids and their parents only know the wall ball league that's dominated winters here for years. So I'm fielding parent comments like: "They're going to play the same three or four teams all the time? That'll be boring for them." "There's no standings? No uniform?" "There's only 5 players on a team out there at a time?" My kid played three games this Saturday against mostly the same kids in different age groups and genders mixed up each game. They weren't bored and didn't care who they played or what the score was, they just wanted to play and have a good time...just like we used to do. It was the parents who looked bored and disinterested because it wasn't "structured" and there wasn't anything at stake. If one team needs a player or two, we'll swap. They're not set in stone. I kept telling them that come spring these kids will be much improved because they have to think and act quicker playing futsal, and they're getting tons more touches that will apply directly to the outdoor game because they don't have the walls as a crutch. When I told my son he had a Halloween party to get to after the second game he said, "We don't have to be there right as it starts, dad." Then you go right ahead and play, young man.
Yesterday - 3 hours on the fields. 40 degrees 15mph wind. Snow flurries at the end. Welcome to upstate NY, November. Credit to the kids, about 75% still showed up in shorts (and weren't cold).
You do really have to credit the kids, especially with the parents on the sidelines bitching about the cold, but wrapped in coats and blankets. But why, if I may ask, were the kids on the field for 3 hours? Some sort of tournament or extended practice?
1. Most parents do not stand outside. They generally are off to the nearby box stores. 2. They were only out for 1.5 hours. U-12's, followed by U-14's.
Sorry. I'm actually just renting a local gym and having only our team play pick-up futsal games for an hour. We did it last winter and the kids loved. The parents actually really like it also - super cheap ($1-2/week/player), kids get a ton of playing time rather than subbing/waiting, and it's at the same time/place every week. These benefits far outweigh the silliness of wall ball crazy play, in addition to being better at their skill development. Kids just want to play.
IMO, heavy structure is overrated. I hated it in my playing days and I hate it as a coach. Then again, I love the intelligent players who move into areas where they see a weakness. I think this is why I'm so excited about this futsal season. Most of my girls are naturally more than happy to switch positions on the field so I think they'll love this. A few won't "get" it but those aren't my types of players and honestly, are some I won't mind returning. Wow, that sounded less offensive in my head. Well, off to load up the car and head to practice.
Read this incorrectly the first time and got a little worried. Thought you were saying that your wife wasn't going to be around long.....
Sounds like you're on the right path. Not surprising, but still frustrating to see this kind of observation. There is still a long way to go, but there has been a lot of progress in the last 10-20 years when you think of where we've gotten to in terms of thinking about small-sided games, use of goalkeepers, etc., with so much of the resistance put on the players when in fact it comes from the parents' preconceptions of how things are "supposed" to be. I had a conversation with a coach in a rec league just this past week -- the other team had players out of town and couldn't field a full squad; to his credit, the coach wanted to keep the numbers on the field even, so he played short as well, but this meant more time on the bench for all of his players. Scores and standings aren't kept. When I asked if he had considered loaning a couple of players as an alternate way of evening things out, I would swear that he looked at me like I was from another planet.
Way back when I was a kid, we wanted to get in some winter training. It's been so long that I've no idea what the place was called, but we got a good deal on what was the equivalent of a rodeo training facility. We had to train on dirt and the heating wasn't particularly good, but it was different and, as a kid, that made it fun in its own right. If available, a gym sounds like it makes so much more sense, but at the end of the day, you just need enough space to kick a ball.
I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with playing indoor soccer on a field with walls. I actually think it teaches the kids a lot about angles and the importance of diagonals in the game of soccer. It also reinforces the notion of following your (and other's) shots. There are lots of good 1v1 dribbling scenarios and I love the use of the walls for self passes, which teaches the concept of wall passes in a very literal and understandable way. It's also a ton of fun. Way too much bashing of "wall ball" indoor soccer by the futsal Nazis, if you ask me. Sure, futsal's great and has its place, but it's not the end all be all of winter soccer that it's made out to be.
I've played a ton of both futsal and indoor soccer, still do in fact. I've also coached both. IMHO, indoor is better than nothing, but not nearly as good as futsal when it comes to skill development. With futsal, a player is essentially punished immediately by the game for not having a good first touch or control as the ball will either by taken by a defender or go out of bounds. On the flip side, the same poor control can simply be knocked ahead into the wall and chased down. The lesson from futsal, a poor first touch = lose the ball. Lesson from indoor, poor first touch doesn't make a difference. With futsal, a player along the sideline must either figure out how to use his teammates to beat the opponent or how to dribble close to the edge without going out. The same situation in indoor provides 2 options, a wall pass to yourself or a fake wall pass and cut inside. The futsal situation is directly analogous to the outdoor game, the indoor situation is unique to indoor only - the fake is easier in indoor since the wall pass is a stable for how to play the game and therefore the defender is expecting it more thus making the fake very easy. For shooting, with indoor a shot can be wildly inaccurate. In fact when a defense has the goal well covered, a useful strategy is to just purposely shoot at an open spot on the wall and run toward it hoping for a useful rebound. The same situation in futsal forces a player to use their skills to break down the defense or work with their teammates using short, quick passing. There is no analogous situation in the outdoor game to shooting at the goal line when trapped in the box. Yes, indoor is teaching the player to follow the shot, but so is futsal - because of the small, tight spaces, keeper saves are rarely catches. There are a ton of goals scored by following shots for the rebound. The advantage for futsal over indoor is that the shot must be on frame for the player to benefit from a rebound, which requires greater skill and effort. In my experience, most players who just start playing futsal think the game is frustrating and makes them concentrate hard as almost every mistake is punished. After playing a few times though, you see the players adjusting to these difficulties and figuring out strategies on their own to be successful. As they continue, those skills and strategies improve along with their teammates - it's difficult to dribble through several players to score, but quick and accurate short passing can break down a tight defense. These skills and strategies can directly benefit the players when they transition to outdoor soccer. In contrast, indoor soccer is easier allows the players to rely on strategies that do not translate to the outdoor game. Also, the indoor strategies dramatically ramp up the pace which leads to more out of control situations and harder collisions. Injuries are commonplace with indoor soccer, but very rare with futsal.
I don't question the utility of futsal, but your analysis assumes the worst about walled indoor. When played properly, there's absolutely nothing wrong with walled indoor and, like futsal, it has unique benefits. Nothing teaches you the usefulness of moving after your pass more than a literal pass to yourself. Nothing teaches you the usefulness of a diagonal pass more than a pass off of a wall. Moving after the pass and playing the ball diagonally are two of the absolute most important parts of the game and, imho, walled soccer is the single best way to teach both. You assume that walled soccer is being played incorrectly, but every version of the game can be bastardized and played incorrectly. I could easily say that outdoor soccer is terrible because it rewards you for clearing the ball out of bounds to avoid danger, which simply isn't an option in walled indoor. In fact, walled indoor is the most challenging version of the game from a defensive perspective because there's no safety net of kicking the ball out of bounds. Can futsal claim that? Nope. Played properly, walled soccer is fundamentally sound and an excellent developmental tool. My players play the ball out of the back, use the goalkeeper to circulate the ball, pass and move (often to themselves) and play attractive soccer. I sometimes put restrictions on players and forbid them from passing to themselves off the walls if I see them using it as a crutch or using it improperly. I tell my players not to take wild shots to gain an advantage, the same way I tell them not to clear the ball in outdoor soccer. All of the perceived flaws of walled soccer can be mitigated or eliminated with proper coaching. Again, futsal is a good tool if done properly, but so is walled indoor.
Second practice last night. Two girls complained they hated futsal and that it was too hard. Not surprisingly, these were two of my fastest girls who aren't thrilled with slowing down and actually dribbling. I also found out that (we got stuck in the top division with no ability to change) a normal D4 team got clobbered 12-1 last weekend. Oh the joys we'll have playing these teams soon... I don't mind tough competition but I do worry that the girls won't see enough of the ball to get anything out of it.
Our early winter indoor was cancelled as not enough teams signed up. Fine by me, gives us a bit of a break anyway. I am coaching 3rd and 4th grade boys basketball through the holidays. My first time coaching basketball, which is kind of funny considering that was my sport and soccer was not. So I know a lot more. While we have discussed similarities with soccer here, some of the contrasts between the two sports are pretty interesting: 1. The ability of one good kid to totally dominate in basketball is much more pronounced than in soccer. I have 2.5 kids who can get to the basket and get shots off, and they own the game. 2. Timeouts and stoppages of play. I love being able to actually sit my kids and talk to them at least between every quarter and during timeouts as well. Much easier to make coaching points. 3. While set play are certainly more prevalent in basketball, I'm trying to teach motion offense. Very limited success so far as my dominant kids have usually just taken it to the hole, but we'll continue to work on a free flowing, screen away from the ball heavy offense that doesn't have a set pattern. I have a few kids that get it and several that don't, but we've only had one practice and one game so far, so we'll work at it. If I can just get to the point where the offense to start with down screens, a pass to the wing, and then a cross screen on the block, I'll be happy. On the soccer front, both son and daughter are in the Coerver COE 16 week program this winter. Once a week, basically all winter long. 7yr old daughter was a bit intimidated in session 1. She only made the age cutoff by a couple weeks and there are some unbelievably skilled girls in there already. But in session 2 my wife told her to just work hard to to be tough in the game situations, and when I showed up to pick her up, she was charging around like a bull dog and getting after it. All I can ask for. Son in the u10s is at the lower skill range in the group as well, but he is unconcerned. I just hope his ability to overcome his tall lankiness and accompanying slow feet don't take him until age 16 to overcome like his dad.
Whichever one's preference between the two versions of indoor is up to them. I don't think I'd classify myself as overzealous about it. I would like to see the option of futsal to be communicated better to parents who want to sign their kids up for indoor. When you mention it to a lot of parents they respond like the game was created and passed down from aliens on another planet, when it's no more odd or weird than playing inside a converted hockey rink with artificial turf on it and bouncing it off the walls...it's just been the norm in the U.S. for so many years. One reason is because most basketball courts in a given area are mostly spoken for all winter long. Another is its name. My kid and his teammates played wall ball last winter because the facility offered futsal but no other teams in their age group knew what it was but us.
evidently when my boys have gym they sometimes play soccer on the basketball court. that's one surface experience I suppose a lot of kids get at least a little of by default.
As a parent, I have always enjoyed watching my kids play futsal more than outdoor soccer, mostly because of the faster pace and more touches per player (and perfect weather conditions). I also enjoyed wall ball more than outdoor for the same reasons, but realize that futsal is better for a player's footskills. My son played both futsal and wall ball last winter and said that he prefers futsal, so that is all he is doing this winter. Plus it costs almost twice as much to play wall ball as it does futsal around here. Now as my son's futsal "coach" (really just administrator), I realize how hard it is to really be a coach. I think I have a decent grasp on what to teach, but I am really just not a good teacher (of any topic). Fortunately I am blessed with a great group of kids, most of whom have played futsal together for a couple years. We had our one and only practice last weekend and went over the basic rule differences for our 2 new kids and a couple ideas for them to consider in games such as using the keeper as a outlet more and then had an intrasquad scrimmage. The kids split themselves up into teams and had a great time just playing. I was pleased with how well they gelled and passed with each other. It sounds like the league will be more competitive than last year, which is a good thing. First game is next week.
One thing it does better than futsal--it promotes development of bending skills and instep drives. The other advantage is the use of soccer rather than heavy futsal balls. These differences matter more or less depending on the age of the players.
Sure, some of my assumptions relate to the bad play in indoor, but I've found this to be common place. Clearing the ball from defense in indoor is very common and usually leads to a teammate having a chance because the ball doesn't go out when it happens - smash it up the field and someone on your team can put on pressure to get to it. In contrast, if you boot the ball out of bounds in futsal, you create a set play/goal scoring chance for the other team. As for moving after your pass or diagonal passing, I disagree that the best way to do it is bouncing the ball off the wall. The best way to move the ball up the court in futsal is with quick/short passing and movement - diagonal passes are required to find the holes in a defense. If you're not moving after your pass, then it just doesn't work very well. With passing to yourself there is no reliance on knowing whether your teammate is ready or not when using a wall. Also, you don't have to be very accurate, you just have to be faster than the defender. Obviously not the same as a 'wall' pass in the normal game. Clearly to 'play properly' with indoor requires a significant amount of coaching and restrictions, which are not put in place by the majority of coaches. With futsal, experience playing the game is the best coaching tool available. The nice thing about that is the game forces other teams to 'play properly' or else they won't be successful. All this being said, futsal is definitely not the be all when it comes to development. As RCA2 pointed out, the heavier ball changes several things about the game. You really can't play much for crossing/heading, the ball does bend differently (although it basically bends sooner than expected due to slowing down/physics), and it's very difficult for a keeper to catch a fast shot and there's less diving.
Again, not questioning the utility of futsal and really not trying to play compare-and-contrast between the two. Futsal is great for skill development, but IMO walled indoor is a great tool for teaching young players about off-ball movement and tactics. I think you're missing my point about both diagonals and wall passes. I'm not suggesting that diagonals occur more or are more useful in walled indoor. Rather, my point is that a young mind can see the benefit of diagonal balls easier in indoor. It's like playing billiards. You simply can't miss the effectiveness of playing the ball diagonally when you see the ball deflect off the wall. As to wall passes, my point is not that a self-pass off the wall in indoor perfectly simulates a wall pass to a teammate. But how many times have you seen kids fail to create a give-and-go by not running after their pass? That's immediately fixed by a self-pass in walled indoor because the reward for running after your pass is immediate and obvious. I think ball mastery is great, but it's just one facet of an incredibly complex game. For my oldest son, his two seasons playing walled indoor have been critical to his tactical development. He's actually very skilled on the ball and is much more lacking in field awareness and tactical maturity than in the skill department. And he actually uses his foot skills a ton in walled indoor. As to your earlier point about first touch, first touch is critical in every style of soccer. You are harshly punished for a poor first touch in walled indoor. That seems undeniable to me. OK, done defending walled indoor. I just feel like it has become the undeserved punching bag for the soccer elitists.
You make some good points and as mentioned above, I play and coach indoor soccer as well as futsal. Indoor is more popular here, so one of the big benefits is competition. We tried to join a futsal league last winter and couldn't because there weren't enough teams in the 2 year age group, but there were plenty of options for indoor. We played futsal with rented gym space which was a lot of fun, but tough to keep playing scrimmages all winter. Indoor is definitely easier and faster to jump into playing than futsal, which is an advantage to young players. Futsal can be frustrating and without the right mentality turn a player off from trying. Indoor is definitely better than not playing as there are several things a player can learn and it keeps the skills up. So there's no question that indoor beats futsal for a player turned off by futsal. It's easy to pick on indoor soccer though. It is frustrating to deal with weaker skilled players who have success by playing fast kick and run style that is rewarded in indoor. At the same time, this presents a good challenge for players to play good soccer and overcome those players/teams. I've played on some very good indoor teams where we can go up against a team with a full line of subs who have plenty of power/speed and dominate them with only 1 or no subs. At the same time, it sucks getting injured time after time by out of control, inexperienced players who couldn't hack it in a real game but are effective on an indoor field.
You bring up what I think the soccer elitists like most about futsal, which is that it separates the wheat from the chaff. Big, strong, fast, athletic kids can be highly effective at both outdoor soccer and walled indoor soccer, but futsal is all about ball-skills. I'm not entirely convinced, though, that it teaches ball-skills so much as it rewards ball-skills.
How much experience do you have with playing and/or coaching futsal? From my experience, there's no question that is teaches a lot. Players are rewarded immediately for playing the right way or punished for doing it wrong. An example with my team from last year. A group of U9 (3rd grade) players who never played futsal before. We played futsal for about 8 weeks that winter. The first practice was ugly. The ball went out of play every 10-15 seconds it seemed. Players struggled to score or get through bunched up, compact defenses and most struggled with figuring out how to pass into space, much less getting to the point of creating a good shot. The next practice was some good improvement, the ball staying in play longer and passes starting to get strung together. The players with better ball skills stood out by this point while the weaker players continued to struggle. After a few more weeks, most of the players figured it out and there was good open play with spacing and quicker passing. During this time, I provided very little coaching. Only a few pointers during water breaks about spacing and movement - also pointing out moments of good play. Otherwise I acted as a moderator to direct team captains and water breaks. By the end, we were able to instill some possession and passing concepts that we wanted to use in spring. When the spring session started, the players were ready to go and in midseason form. One great example of the impact on an individual player is one that had been with us for a few years. He's a very fast player who doesn't keep the ball close while dribbling - his speed allowed him to beat players by knocking it past and running onto it. Spacing and field awareness were essentially non-existent - not a problem considering his age, but we focused on close ball control with him a lot. While he's normally one of the dominant players outdoors, he had little success with futsal the first few weeks. He adjusted though and slowed down his dribbling to keep the ball closer. He also used the moves we'd been focusing on to beat defenders and started to take advantage of teammates in better positions when trapped. After fustal, he's brought these skills with him outside and has really jumped in his field awareness and ability to beat most defenders in multiple ways. Futsal wasn't the only reason why he improved (obviously since we focus on these skills in practice), but it definitely gave him a jump in the right direction.
But isn't that the criticism about the way "Americans" play the game here? That we're too dependent on the big, the strong and the athletic over the skilled? To your point I think a lot of it has to do with the age level. I coach 7-8-9 year old players and even on an indoor field, it's a lot of area to cover and it can create bad habits in that age group, from my experience. They're not thinking about the tactical, they're just playing the game and the distance and walls reinforces the kick-and-run habits they may have had in outdoor if they weren't coached to not do it. Futsal would better serve the very young player and then as they got older I can see the tactical come into play in wall ball with the regular ball. It also forces them to make quick movements and decisions on the ball, which then makes the game slow down for them once they get outside. And like you said futsal would reward ball-skills and build confidence in them at the young ages and as they get older.