Courtesy: The Wichita Eagle



What the heck is futsal? A primer for sports fans

November 12, 2016

The city’s new futsal court is at Fairmount Park, near Wichita State University. The court brings a bit of international flair to the park, said Mayor Jeff Longwell

by Dion Lefler

The city of Wichita is officially opening its first futsal court on Monday.

So your next question is likely: What’s futsal?

Basically, it’s a scaled-down variant of soccer, played on a hard-surface court with smaller teams and a smaller ball.

The name futsal – in some countries futsala – means living-room soccer and is derived from a combination of futbol, the Spanish/Portuguese word for soccer, and the French salon or Spanish sala.

The new futsal court is on a converted tennis court at Fairmount Park, a block south of Wichita State University.

Futsal, which originated in Uruguay and spread around the world, is especially popular with international students who learned the sport in their home countries. The city worked with the university to develop a court to accommodate it, officials said.

Some WSU students said Thursday that they’re looking forward to trying it out.

Futsal player Minn Mawia, who hails from the southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, said the game is like soccer but faster-paced. Teams are made up of five players instead of the 11 used for a full soccer team.

Compared with open-field soccer, “it’s a little trickier,” Mawia said.

The court is usually indoors, surrounded by sidewalls like a hockey rink. A big part of the strategy is caroming passes off the sidewalls to set up teammates to score, he said.

Wichita’s new court is outdoors and fenced in.

Andrew Banks, a WSU junior from Maize, said he enjoys indoor soccer and will probably give futsal a try.

“The main difference is it’s a heavier ball, a smaller ball,” he said. Because of that, “It emphasizes foot skills more than regular soccer.”

The new court brings a bit of international flair to the park, said Mayor Jeff Longwell.


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