Samba Style Hits Nottingham at UoN Futsal Tournament
Thursday 25th April 2013
by Jonnie Barnett
It’s the game that Messi, Robinho and Ronaldinho grew up playing. Fat Ronaldo calls it his “first love”. In Brazil it is played by more people than football. But if you ask most Nottingham students, they wouldn’t recognise futsal.
This is something that the UoN Futsal club are trying to change. Established last year as an independent club to compete in the BUCS league, the team was eventually granted full AU status in February. They have already competed against Lincoln, Loughborough, Warwick, East Anglia and Nottingham Trent university teams and have taken on National League sides such as Birmingham United and professional academy sides like Notts County. An unofficial varsity match is also in the pipeline.
Now President and founder Daniel Slater wants more students to get involved with an internationally recognised five-a-side version of the game, played inside using a smaller, heavier ball than a normal football. “Playing futsal is such an exciting sport” he says. “You have less time and space which forces you to think quicker on and off the ball. It is fantastic both as a way to improve your skills for football and as a sport in its own right. I promise you that over the next few years the popularity of futsal is going to explode. Get involved!”
UoN Futsal are hosting a tournament on Thursday 25th April at the University Park sports centre, where 12 teams from uni halls will battle it out for the prestigious (and imaginatively named) University Park Cup. It starts at 7pm and will be first pure futsal tournament to be hosted for students.
The team also has big plans for next year. They hope to be granted admission to the FA National League, the highest standard of futsal in the country, and to run two BUCS sides. They also plan to run an IMS tournament for halls and societies to play regularly, and organise Nu2 sports sessions in the evenings to allow a wide range of new people to experience the sport.
Training sessions are held Tuesdays 5pm-7pm and you can contact UoN Futsal on uonfutsal@gmail.com