Courtesy: Westmeath Independent


Futsal tournament to kick off new sporting year in style

Wednesday, 28th December, 2011

The ADSL's Annual Futsal Tournament has become one of the most popular events on the local sporting calendar and has achieved in just five years a reputation and status as one of the best ways to launch the New Year.

This season's fifth annual Futsal Tournament kicks off on Monday, January 3 next in the John Count McCormack Hall in Athlone Institute of Technology. There will be four successive nights of group action as 28 teams strive to qualify for the Grand Finals night on Thursday, January 12.

Futsal is the official FIFA and UEFA version of indoor 5-a-side football. The game originated in South America with the word "Futsal" coming from the Portuguese phrase "futebol de salao" or the Spanish "futbol de sala", both of which basically mean indoor football. Futsal is particularly popular in Brazil.

The main feature of the game is the ball which is a size four slightly weighted leather ball with a restricted bounce rather than the fluffy, bouncy yellow ball more readily associated with indoor football in Ireland. This results in the ball staying on the ground and makes huge demands of the player's technique and playing skills. The game is played in a reduced space and is fast and furious, resulting in the improvement of techniques such as dribbling, passing and close control, while also encouraging players to learn to move off the ball in order to create space for themselves and their team.

The ADSL Futsal Tournament, for the coveted Stacey Cup, is a 5-a-side competition for panels of eight players under the ages of 11 and 12. The record 28 team entry are divided into four groups of seven teams playing 21 group games each evening, with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the Grand Finals night on the 12th January next.

On Finals night the eight qualifiers will be split into two pools of four teams playing round robin games with the pool winners contesting the Grand Final with the two pool runners-up contesting a 3rd/4th place play-off.

This is the fifth annual ADSL Futsal Tournament. Temple Villa were the first winners in 2008 and successfully defended their title in 2009. Villa were denied a three-in-a-row in 2010 when St Coman's were crowned champions with a Golden Goal extra-time high drama winner.

It was equally dramatic last year in 2011 when Hodson Bay Celtic were crowned champions with a 1-0 win over Ballinahown.

This year's tournament promises to be the best yet. There are a number of very strong entries with two of the new clubs in the ADSL, Glasson Celtic and Athlone United, making their debuts in the competition.

This year's tournament was recently launched and endorsed by Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni and members of the Irish senior squad. The Irish stars, who themselves are looking forward to a big tournament of their own in 2012, joined up with players from the competing ADSL clubs to launch the event.

The ADSL Futsal Tournament is supported by the FAI who has used this Tournament as a model for other Leagues all over the country. The Tournament is again sponsored by the Stacey family who are one of the great Athlone football families. The Stacey Cup is a fitting prize for a unique competition.

In the forthcoming Futsal Tournament, the games come thick and fast with 21 games on each group night, and the Athlone IT venue makes the event. The banked seating lends a stadium aura to the occasion. Each goal is greeted by thumping music and an amazing sound system all of which adds up to a unique and simply incredible atmosphere. The young players thrive in the midst of it all and their enthusiasm and sense of adventure combines to make this the outstanding success it has been and makes this a sporting event that you simply must attend and an occasion you just have to savour for yourself.

The action kicks off on Tuesday, January 3 with the first game in Group A kicking off at 6pm. There are 21 games in each Group all lasting for 9 minutes each right up to the last game at 10pm. Last year we had 308 goals in the group games for an average of just over 3.6 goals per game.

Group B is on Wednesday, January 4; Group C is on Thursday, January 5; with Group D on Friday January 6. All Group games kick off at 6pm and the most remarkable thing about all of this is that it is free with no admission price to the AIT Multi-Purpose Sports Hall.

Let's play Futsal!




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com