I've coached four seasons of futsal (U6, U7, U8 and U9). In all honesty, I definitely see the value in it from a developmental perpective because, as you point out, by virtue of rewarding good habits, it encourages those habits. I still don't think it really makes you better at close control dribbling (for example), but it makes you do it, which in turn makes you better at it. Of course, I make my players use close control dribbling always beacuse I strictly forbid kicking and running. The same way the ball going out of bounds in futsal conditions players to keep the ball under close control, my telling the kids to dribble with close control conditions them to do it. So the lesson from futsal is really just a reinforcement of what they already have been taught by me since age 3-4. My players all dribble with close control by age 5 anyway, so that's simply not an issue for my teams. So far, I've simply been defending walled indoor soccer, but I'm also not a huge fan of futsal for many of the reasons pointed out here. I don't think futsal is nearly as fun for the kids as walled indoor soccer is. Sure, the gym rat soccer kids love futsal because they love every kind of soccer. But not all kids are gym rats. Futsal leagues usually have low numbers of players and teams, and that lack of critical mass makes them resort to mixing the kids into weird age groups that don't make a lot of sense to me. Sorry, but I don't love having my 10 year old play with 8 year olds or with 12 year olds. One futsal league we signed up for folded one week before the season started becaus they only had about four teams, all of different ages. Most futsal facilities are really just basketball courts, meaning that there isn't any place for the parents and siblings to hang out, so a key stakeholder group doesn't enjoy futsal very much either. I take this into account because I have three kids and know very well how painful it is to sit in a cramped gymnasium. As a coach, you have to have buy-in from the parents or you will lose their hearts and minds, and then their kids. I'll sometimes take my teams to a basketball court to hold a practice. I also like to take all three of my kids (and some of my other players, sometimes) to the local YMCA and play some soccer in the racquetball courts, maybe 10 times per year. We'll do some Coerver stuff, some games of possession and some scrimmages (no more than 3v3 because a racquetball court is small). But I have no patience for an entire season of games on a basketball court. Just not much fun.
That's exactly what I was talking about in one of my earlier posts. They have low numbers of players and teams because "stakeholders" aren't informed or educated about it for the most part; it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If futsal had lots of age appropriate teams and high numbers of them, the parents would buy in because it would fit the structure the parents expect in their mind based on the norm, not the reality. It's a chicken-and-egg scenario. That said, it's no different than 20-25 years ago when parents would think you were crazy for suggesting a kid play one sport most of the year when that wasn't the norm. So parents don't hang out and sit in cramped gyms for basketball leagues in the winter?
Someone mentioned something about the futsal ball being heavier. My girls hate it. Well, some of them do. The ones with good technique are fine. The rest are still figuring it out but they'll get there. Even a couple parents commented when they tried to kick one around one night on the sidelines. Also on this topic of ball, maybe you all can help. I had a size 3 Select Futsal Magico in my car that I had gotten from our club's lost and found. It looked right to me but what do I know? I've never bought one before and never paid attention when playing. We ordered 11 for the team and they are also size 3 but nearly half the size. I asked some parents who played soccer but none had ever played futsal. Our manager said she was at the game facility and saw the ones they sold there and ours look right. Is there some sort of adult size 3 or something I'm missing? Even our club's director was confused. I'd take a picture and post it but hahahaha, I'm so not tech savvy.
It's not a very good shot and I can't get a good angle to show the difference but here it is. Just be amazed at my skill in figuring out how to send it from my phone to Facebook and then copying the link here. I'm going back to bed now because I really can't top this.
From the interwebs: Futsal sizes are smaller than regular soccer standard sizing for size 3 and 4 balls. Circumference for the size 3 ball is 20.86" - 21.65" or 53 - 55 cm Circumference for the size 4 ball is 24.4" - 25.19" or 62 - 64 cm Also, they're not heavier than outdoor balls, they just have more foam in them. "According to FIFA specifications the standard Futsal ball is a size smaller and 10 grams lighter than the outdoor ball and has 60 percent less bounce."
Two things I like from a Coerver email I got yesterday that I wanted to share: In the Center of Excellence players will improve fast footwork, 1v1 moves, shooting, weak foot, the development of great soccer habits and qualities of a great athlete. Teachable Spirit is the first quality of a great athlete we go over and highlights the need to continuously improve. Players in the COE must have an enthusiasm for continuous improvement every session. COE players know that correction happens because a coach sees potential in them to get better. They have learned to take correction as a compliment and look at correction as an opportunity to improve. The non-COE player looks at any correction as criticism and often responds with an excuse. Having Teachable Spirit is a Choice. Of course, non-CEO kids can have teachable spirit, but you get the point. And: Motivation We intuitively think that motivation and teachable spirit originates from deep inside us - from the heart, as the old saying goes. But in fact, as the psychologist Carol Dweck and others have shown, this idea is mostly wrong. Motivation and teachable spirit is largely social; fueled by our interactions with the people around us. In other words, motivation and the willingness to learn is less about what's in your heart, and more about how you connect with your social circle. Check out this passage from a new soccer book called Stillness and Speed, which tells a story about a promising but unproven younger player named Robin Van Persie and a veteran star named Dennis Bergkamp. It begins with Van Persie recalling an afternoon on Arsenal's training ground. Van Persie had finished earlier and was sitting in a Jacuzzi which happened to be by a window. Out on the field he noticed Dennis doing a complicated exercise involving shooting, and receiving and giving passes at speed. Robin decided to get out of the bath as soon as Dennis made a mistake. "It was a 45-minute session and there wasn't one pass Dennis gave that wasn't perfect," [Van Persie said.] "He did everything 100 percent, to the max, shooting as hard as possible, controlling, playing, direct passing... That was so beautiful! To me it was plainly art. My hands got all wrinkled in the bath but I just stayed there. I sat and watched and I waited, looking or one single mistake. Bu the mistake never came. And that was the answer for me. "Watching that training session answered so many questions I had. I can pass the ball well, too. I'm a good football player as well. But this man did it so well and with such drive. He had such total focus. I found myself thinking, 'OK, wait a minute, I can play football well enough but I've still got an enormous step to take to get to that level.' And that's when I realized, if I want to become really good, then I have to be able to do that, too. From that moment on I started doing every exercise with total commitment. With every simple passing or kicking practice, I did everything at 100 percent, just so I wouldn't make mistakes. And when I made a mistake I was angry. Because I wanted to be like Bergkamp." Van Persie, of course,is a huge star with Manchester United. It's a familiar pattern. You start out thinking we're pretty good. Then you have the thrilling, slightly frightening experience of seeing somebody who's on the next level. Then, using that person as a north star, you start taking steps that direction with a Teachable Spirit.
Yeah, I know all that. The point though was that both of those balls say they are size 3 futsal balls. That's where I'm confused on it all. I also didn't mean "heavier" literally. I'm just used to dumbing it down for people. You'd be surprised how many people apparently failed the physical sciences in school.
That happens everywhere doesn't it. In my wife's U5 pre-school 3v3 match an obviously older player was tearing up the field against our 4 year olds. Scoring goals and dribbling around our players without hinderence. Some of my players even started to cry, when this kid stole the ball after we finally got a ball down near the other teams goal. The parents were praising him, and when I saw it I asked him how old he was. "just turned 6" - my next question "does he usually play with girls on his team" (we play U5 coed, and U6 and above single gender). "Ah, No". My reply," Well this team is coed. I think you are on the wrong field. The kid through a fit and didn't want to go out. The coach didn't even seem to notice - How do you not know that a kid you put in is not on your team?
Not sure, but I've had some outdoor size 3s that were properly inflated but nowhere close to each other in circumference so it could be manufacturer issue. I'm sure there are size 3 futsal balls but we've always used the standard size 4 since it was already smaller than the outdoor size 4.
I had that happen years ago with what should have been identical balls. Same brand, same model, same "size" but one looked a 4 and one looked a 5. That picture really doesn't do it justice. They actually look like a 4 and a 3 for outdoor. I dunno. As long as the smaller one is the right size since that's what we were shipped for the girls then I'm good. The larger one works better for me to demonstrate and not trip over in practice. Speaking of, slipping and falling in practice is a great way to get the attention of 9 year olds. Somehow the rubber bottoms of my shoes hardened and now might as well be plastic.
Don't worry, the size doesn't matter that much as long as you stay consistent. There's a pretty big difference in size between the futsal balls in the US and those in South America. The larger one from your picture would be the US size. Going with the larger ball is just fine for your situation and might be easier for the players to translate their skills when moving back outdoor.
If it's spring recreational, there are kids that don't go to soccer practice because they are also playing t-ball and the parents think that soccer is easier because all you do is kick a ball. that's just one explanation I've encountered though... the coach was probably a jerk
That probably explains it then. They were ordered through Challenger so maybe the Brits use a smaller ball? FYI, mine is the larger of the two there. The girls are using the small ones. Either way, we'll find out tomorrow when we show up to play.
I coach a Girls U9 Team. We are in a league where all of the teams are pretty competitive. In our 11 games so far - I have only seen 1 team that is "better" than us top-to-bottom. But -We have lost 3 games in a row in the final few minutes of a game. We have had a ton of great scoring opportunities but haven't been able to convert. So FRUSTRATING!!!!!! And we had chances to stop the goals that have gone in. We are 5-4-2 with 1 game left. We missed a few great chances today when all we needed was a little "left foot tap" to knock the ball in. But the girls want to use their strong foot. I guess next week at practice we will be going "weak foot only." But - I do take some relief in that I have moved my girls into different positions all year long. They can all play defense/mid/forward without issue. I have 3 girls that are a little stronger than the rest- but 7 of my 11 players have scored a goal this year. Thanks for listening. I needed to rant and brag a little.
I look back on our 2-2-4 record and am happy because the girls spent a lot of time learning new positions. That will only help them come time when it's time to actually win (hs perhaps?). We had our first futsal game last night and I saw it helped there too. Not all of them got it, but by the end a few realized the fluidity going up and down the court. We still lost like 13-0 but what are you going to do when you've got a lower level team playing against the top teams in the area. One girl on the other team did a Maradona...she's 9. Yeah, I don't have any ready to learn that yet. On the brighter side, we didn't play horrible. No one wanted to play goalie. I think they were all too afraid of the ball and the surface. So we let in a few we'd normally get to. Also had a few shots that I liked for outdoor shooting - that whole corner thing, ya know? And my girl that overthinks everything might just be my best futsal player. She just had to DO instead. Downside was one of my girls took a tumble and hit her heat on the floor. Last I heard she was doing ok but that's still scary.
Anyone around here near the KC area? I'm looking at you, lurkers. Come January we are holding a concussion discussion panel thing for players, parents, and coaches. If you are interested shoot me a PM and I'll get more info when it becomes available.
We had our first futsal game last weekend and just in the course of one game you could see the improvement. The increased speed of thought and play just from the circumstances of the game was evident. There was more passing, more moves than many had tried in outdoor. They still play a little narrow though which is interesting considering the dimensions are smaller yet it continues. I think some of it comes from them playing basketball where they can't step on the line.
I think some of it comes from playing other sports or from "helpful" parents who don't know soccer rules are different. But I find it frustrating as a player when a coach tells me to play "on" the touch line or "even" with the last defender. Inflexible rules. The point to width is to be positioned so that you can play a ball before it crossed over the touch line. The further away the ball is, the more flight time you have so you can play more inside, when your opponents all shift to the strong side leaving you all the space. That way you can influence a greater area of the field. The point to staying high is to try to create space between the lines for the midfielders to exploit. But you have to be in an onside position in order to remain a threat. If I stand even with the last defender, I will be in an offside position as soon as I turn to take my first step up field. If the last defender is 2 yards behind me, I can turn, drop into the 45 degree acceleration position and take that first step and still be on-side. I can get the jump on the sweeper that way. The difference is worth 2-3 steps, which is huge tactically. If I stand offset a bit away from the ball, I make it more difficult for him to watch both me and the rest of the field. Again a tactical advantage that can add another step, unless he is willing to slide to the weak side--another way of stretching the defense. I don't expect anyone to teach young kids these points, but I expect coaches to make tactical instructions that will still make sense in the future as the player develops an more sophisticated view of the game. I believe my adult team mates yelling at me where I should stand (and yelling at me for not keeping a pass on the ground) are just repeating what their youth coaches told them, and they believe that these instructions are the correct tactics for all situations. Sigh. I am afraid that we have raised a generation of tactically inflexible--and therefore less effective--players and coaches.
Futsal balls are heavier than soccer balls. "Heavy" often refers to a comparison of density rather than just mass. We commonly say that lead is heavier than feathers, but a pound of each weighs the same.
Our futsal season kicked off last night. This league is run by the local YMCA. We are in a small town of about 5000 people, which means they sometimes have difficulty getting good participation in futsal. Last year my son played both U10 and U12 and there were only 5 u10 teams and only 3 u12 teams. A bigger small town 15 miles away has an indoor league that is at least twice as big and my son played that last year as well. I know my son's club coaches prefer futsal over indoor and maybe that attitude is becoming more accepted because this year the futsal league is much larger. There are 8 teams in every age division. It also might have something to do with the fact that the indoor league costs about twice as much as futsal. Anyway it looks like this year will be more fun and more competitive than last year. The league allows you to put together your own team or join the YMCA house team. There is only 1 house team and 7 pre-selected teams in the u12 division that my son is in. Most, but not all of the team are co-ed rec league all-star type of teams for our town and other nearby small towns. There is one all girl club team in the league and think they might be the team to beat. They beat one of the all boy teams 12-0 last night. This is my first year ever coaching any type of soccer, although I have coached baseball and flag football before. I do have an assistant who played D3 soccer and he is a better "teacher" than I am so that really helps. The core of our team has played together for 3 years now, so that helps as well. They are all 10 years old, except for the one fearless 8 year old whose older brother is also on the team. We only have 1 girl, who is also our biggest player. She is athletic, looks like she will be a great basketball player, and has OK footskills. My son is the only club player on the team, but there are 2-3 others that are as good as he is. They are quicker and more aggressive if nothing else. We have 2 kids who have never played futsal before. One is tall and lanky and sometimes has coordination issues, but is a good kid and plays hard. The other is a recent adoptee from Haiti who has only been here for 6 weeks. He is small and thin, but has decent but not great footskills. I don't think he has ever played organized soccer, but his mom said he played a lot at the orphanage. We won our first game 6-3 after falling behind 2-0. It took almost 10 minutes for them to settle down and stop trying to just clear the ball from our defensive half. We dominated after that by putting one experienced/skilled player and one inexperienced/lesser skilled player in both attacking and defending roles. The experienced defenders knew when they could move up to help on the attack, which really made a difference. We did rotate so that all players played both attacker and defender during the game. The opponents were semi-skilled and had one player that was on my son's spring club team, but they did not match up well over all. We won based on overall existing skills, not any coaching decisions. My son scored 4 or 5 goals. He thinks 5 and my wife thinks 4. I can only remember 3, but I also can only remember one other kid scoring a goal. My son was about to take a free kick with about 5 seconds to go, but I told the ref to let to clock run out before he could take it. That is probably the most he scored in one game. The other kid who scored is usually our leading scorer. Several players had great chances on goal, but good goalkeeping stopped several and slight hesitancy or a whiff prevented the others. We won’t have any practices for the rest of the season, so we can only coach for a few minutes before each game and to the bench players during the game. Our biggest need is to get all players to make a good first touch on the ball to settle it down before make the next move. This is mostly the inexperienced players who may be worried about giving up a goal, so they try to just clear it away. I would like to see them settle it and make one move around the first attacker before either dribbling further up or passing. It also applies to attackers who are not quite skilled enough to strike a bouncing ball. Our better players are good dribblers and can take on a couple defenders and they also make good passes when attacking. We do need improve the vision and use of the whole court in our passing. They do well working in pairs attacking the goal, but seldom look back to a teammate near midcourt who could receive a pass and set up more options. Our next game is against the girls’ club team (most of whom are good friends and/or former teammates with the kids on our team). I don’t think they will be more skilled than us, but I fear they will be more organized and disciplined which could cause us problems. And they are practicing between games.
Actually I think you'd serve the kids better by changing your mindset a bit. Consider your games to be practices and coach them in that way. Count the number of games you have this season and determine 1-2 things to focus on for each game - different focuses each week. Then challenge the players in that focus for each game. For example, one week it could be first touch. Challenge your players to play 2-touch passing as much as possible. This forces them to be very careful with their first touch in order to setup the second one. Note - many think that one touch passing is a good way to teach first touch control, but it actually never allows the player to work on receiving skills. The next game you could focus on 1v1, take on dribbling skills. In that work challenge the players to dribble at defenders instead of passing. This approach would definitely mean you will lose games, but there's no doubt it would be a bigger benefit to the players. Also, you must let the parents know what's up because they'll be yelling instructions to do the opposite of what you're teaching. Remind them that the winter time is a good time for them to stay sharp and improve for the spring season. As for the second sentence, you are looking at a very narrow scope in determining your 'biggest' need. That only relates to your need for winning the next game, but that should not be your job at this age group. Your job is to prepare them for the next level while still focusing on fun. Put your mindset in the right place and you'll do a couple orders of magnitude more for the kids. I've taken this approach with younger teams for awhile and the players really enjoy it. Yes, we lost more games at the beginning because of it, but by the next season our players were so much further along than the competition that we had to start putting restrictions in place to keep games competitive.
I know my girls can pass (when they want to) so I've been focusing futsal almost exclusively to bring their footskills up. They've improved so fast it's...I don't know what it is but it's a lot. A few are now comfortable enough to get their heads up in traffic and pick out a pass. I've still not been concerned with shooting since I think it's overrated at this age. Means we tie a lot of low scoring games that we dominate possession but we've started to figure out how to get open and pass into the goal. So far this season I've decided to just shrug my shoulders and go, "Dafuq?" on a few players. Mostly in a good way. My spacey girl was dribbling out of 2 and 3 defenders this morning. Not just kick and chase, but actually controlling on the line, a quick shift here, and out of danger. I don't know what happened but if it's because of that dog I'm buying all the girls one for Christmas! I had another girl that looks embarrassed when she scores. I had to tell her it's ok to be excited. Goofy kids.
Question though. Playing with 4 field players is easy enough to move and cover as an adult, but how do you get that across to mid to lower level 9 year olds? A few get it but some just don't get the free flowing nature of not having either a true center or a true forward. They want those set positions. I have about half the team that will naturally morph from a 1-2-1 to a 2-2 to a 1-1-2 to a 1-3 as the game unfolds (ie, no real position, only roles). The other half, they just kinda get lost in the shuffle. A few are just overwhelmed at the speed but a few are just not getting it. They barely get a set position. I've always been a freeflowing player and loved playing with them as well so sometimes it's hard to relate to others.
I used a keep-away SSG with no goals. Uneven sides at first to make it easier to keep possession. It was a familiar game, and similar to tag. With uneven numbers the open space is more obvious and the defenders will move to close down the ball, creating new space. You have the advantage of some successful girls for the others to imitate. I never had anyone who didn't understand keep-away. Then it is just a matter of letting them discover how to transition to a game with goals. Remember the possession is necessary to penetrate to a scoring position. So if your SSG with goals doesn't require penetration to score, they won't have a reason to play keep-away when there are goals always nearby. One solution, if you don't want to expand the distance, is to use scoring "zones" so players have to move into the zone and possess the ball to "score" instead of shooting at a goal from distance. Then the last transition the players have to make is from the SSG to the larger space in the full-sized field with goals. Just keep adjusting the SSGs until you get the behavior you want to see.