Courtesy: Fort McMurray Today


Youth soccer looks to build on indoor success

by Trevor Howlett

Sunday, April 21, 2013

In just a few weeks the Fort McMurray Youth Soccer Association will kick off the 2013 outdoor soccer season after one of its best ever indoor soccer seasons.

Earlier this month the Alberta Soccer Association relaunched futsal provincials and the Fort McMurray Fury teams did well at the Tier II, winning a gold medal in U14 boys, a silver medal in U14 girls, a bronze in U12 boys and a fourth place finish for U12 girls, with a team that had a lot of 10 year old players. FMYSA technical director and U14 boys futsal coach Ian Diaz said he’s happy to see good results from the indoor game and added that it’s helping in player development.

“The skillset is definitely better and it develops more individual skills in the players,” said Diaz.

Diaz said that it’s good to see success for Fury teams in indoor soccer and futsal because players from Fort McMurray have a better chance of playing in the Arctic Winter Games, which has indoor soccer as an official sport although with some futsal style play.

The FMYSA also held Tier II provincials earlier this year for U14 girls and boys with the boys team winning bronze. Diaz said he’s not sure why the Fury teams did better at Futsal provincials than they did at indoor soccer provincials, but he is pleased at the effort put in by the Fury futsal teams, especially considering they had only a few weeks to learn the rules of futsal.

“I don’t know why, but the kids that played for us did really well because they really focused and embraced the game,” said Diaz. “That’s half the battle sometimes, getting the kids who want to be there and going into a tournament with that mindset can really help. They did a great job and I’m really impressed with how quickly they grasped the concepts.”

Diaz said there is a good chance that at least one of the Fury futsal teams will be moving up to play at the Tier I level next year, but that decision won’t be made until next season. Diaz would also like to see the indoor soccer teams move up to Tier I in the next few years.

“We’re going to slowly look to up the ante and see if our boys and our girls can compete at the Tier I level,” said Diaz. “We’re slowly progressing to that and there’s been some significant improvement in the players we have in our select program this year.”

With outdoor season around the corner, young soccer players could beginning practicing for the summer season next month if the snow melts in a timely fashion. Diaz said the FMYSA will put U12 girls team and a U14 boys team in the Edmonton Interdistrict Youth Soccer Association Tier II league to help them get regular competition.

After a successful indoor soccer provincials earlier this year, local soccer fans can look forward to U12 girls and boys Tier II provincials being held in Fort McMurray this August.






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