Courtesy: Charlotte Observer


Looks like soccer, but it’s futsal

League offers unconventional way to learn conventional game

by Reid Creager

At first glance, the training session looks something like soccer.

Except for the smaller, slightly harder ball, the indoor court and barefoot, blindfolded players.

With Salsa music playing.

The growing sport of futsal – also known as Five-a-Side or mini-soccer – is getting a bounce locally via Charlotte’s F5 Futsal. The organization offers a year-round barefoot futsal academy, classes and a league for kids.

The kids aren’t blindfolded all the time. That’s just one of the training exercises.

Head instructor Guillermo Uribe and lead instructor Paul Roderique say their innovative teaching techniques and environment provide a healthy developmental experience – and a skill set that’s the envy of many soccer players.

“We’re teaching the way they play futsal in Brazil and Colombia, where it’s all ground control,” Uribe said. “It’s manipulative movement, control of the ball that’s under your feet a lot.”

“What we want to do is teach the player how to become a futsaller,” Uribe said. “It’s only going to increase their abilities on the soccer field with a soccer ball. The other way doesn’t work. Soccer doesn’t really enhance the futsal experience.”

Roderique said the sport has built-in advantages over soccer.

“Working with a futsal ball on the futsal court teaches you skills faster and better,” he said. “You get more touches, and that’s the greatest teacher is how often you touch the ball. So the more times you’re touching it or moving it, the quicker you’re learning.

“And you have less space, so you have to be better at controlling the ball.”

The academy’s training base is at British American School of Charlotte in the Ballantyne area, with nearby satellite facilities in the Charlotte Catholic gym. Players can range from age 3 to 15.

“The younger we get a player the better, because there’s less baggage,” said the 42-year-old Uribe of Charlotte, who has trained more than 40 club teams in his career. “Our entry method is counterintuitive in that we work with a player on how to manipulate a ball going backwards, not forward. Sideways, not forward.

“Soccer’s general path of construction and teaching kids is, the reference point is usually behind the ball and chasing it – whereas ours is controlling rather than chasing, changing rather than chasing. …

“We want our player to be able to move in any direction at any moment at any cadence – rhythmic or smooth or fluidly – without even worrying, and under pressure. One person on them is nothing to them. Two to three, they can deal with. They can break pressure from two, or even a third defender on them.”

The barefoot training – players wear shoes in league play – raises eyebrows, but Roderique said it sharpens skills from an earlier age and is just as safe as the traditional approach.

“Barefoot is one of the tools that helps these kids acquire these skills faster,” said Roderique, an accomplished coach at several levels. “When they strike a ball with a bare foot, you can see the little red mark (on the foot). You know exactly where they hit the ball, and so do they. And if they don’t hit it just right, it hurts. …

“If I’ve got three kids in a pile, you don’t see them kicking each other like they would if they were all wearing shinguards and cleats. They’re more adept at pulling the ball out and doing it right, rather than just kicking away.”

The innovation doesn’t stop there. Uribe and Roderique play South American music for the players throughout every training session – even in league games – and are learning more about how to use it strategically.

“The first 30 minutes of class is around 90 beats per minute, and then we build it up to about 130, 150 beats a minute as we get into scrimmaging or simulated play,” Uribe said.

Roderique, 58, of Indian Land said the music is an extension of the attempt to encourage fun and creativity for the kids. There is no criticism.

Kids get a chance to show what they’ve learned in the F5 Futsal League – the only United States Youth Futsal-sanctioned league in North Carolina – which featured 15 teams last year. Roderique said the winter-only league hopes to expand to 36 teams this year. Registration ends Nov. 16. Play begins Dec. 8.

Craig Rogers of Charlotte said the futsal academy is a great experience for his son Tyler, 7. He and his son prefer the unconventional approach.

“Tyler has never played regular soccer,” he said. “In futsal, the emphasis is on player development instead of winning. He’s been with ‘Coach G’ since he was 3 1/2, and it makes sense to stick with this.”