Courtesy: Daily Record


It's about time Scottish football caught on to the potential of futsal claims Queen's Park star David Galt

After setting up his own futsal academy, Galt believes the skills that were once learned in the street are being replicated indoors.

by Gordon Parks

3 Dec 2016

David Galt talks about the good old days - kicking a ball from dawn till dusk in the streets of a Glasgow council scheme.

It’s like a scene from a bygone age as he describes dribbling his way to the shops, one-twos against the wall all the way there and back.

The Queen’s Park midfielder claims to have only played a handful of organised games in his youth as he preferred a kickabout with his pals.

He said: “Street fitba was everything for me as a youngster, and I believe a massive part of developing me into the footballer that I am today.

"You didn’t have a set position, you attacked, you defended, I didn’t have a coach telling me what to do. You just used your imagination and learned from your own mistakes.

“That was pretty much my way of learning and developing my football skills.”

It’s a bit of a leap from the backstreets of Springburn to the Copacabana.

The 26-year-old’s passion for playing with freedom brought him into contact with a sport called Joga Bonito, better known as futsal and it’s coming to a community near you.

Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane, Pele and Lionel Messi all swear by it and Celtic’s Tom Rogic played the game for the Australian national side.

After setting up his own futsal academy, Galt believes the skills that were once learned in the street are being replicated indoors and it’s about time Scottish football caught on.

He said: “My motto is learn, enjoy, develop and enjoyment is the key part as you won’t develop if there’s no enjoyment and that’s true at every level of football.

"The size of the ball is smaller but people overlook the small things, we used to play at school with a tennis ball, it helped with your touch and skill levels, it can only improve you technically.

"Receiving the ball under pressure and having freedom to express yourself. Football is all about decision making, knowing when and when not to pass.

“I watched Partick Thistle against Rangers a few weeks ago, it was dull with everything played from side to side, there was little excitement. It may sound biased but the player in Scotland I want to watch is Tom Rogic who grew up playing futsal and played the sport for the Australian national team.

“He’s strong and unbelievably good technically. He’s good with both feet, knows how to protect the ball and plays on the half turn, I could watch him all day and I’m not a Celtic fan.

“There aren’t many players who get you out of your seat but Rogic plays the game looking forwards and beating players, it’s a dying art.”

Galt’s belief that futsal should become a key part of the SFA Project Brave blueprint to save our game is fuelled by the skills and thrills of working with over 100 kids each week at various venues across the city and he admits he was hooked by the sport after coming across it by chance.

He said: “I was introduced to fustal when I saw an advert to play in a tournament which came to Glasgow which was three against three.

“It was the same as playing in the streets with my mates when I was growing up in Springburn.

“I could count on one hand the amount of organised games I played before the age of 16.

“I didn’t enjoy it, I preferred to just play with my mates on the street.

“We used to line the street on Petershill Road, we’d line out goals and make pitches but all of those areas where we used to play now have something built on them. There are houses and there’s even a doctor’s surgery on the bit of land where we all played.

“There is one kid I see going to school in the morning with a ball at his feet, when I was young we all did that but he’s the only one I see now.

“Even when I used to get sent to the shops I had a ball at my feet which I kicked against a wall on way there, you never see that now.

“I speak to parents who tell me that two nights of training is enough, three is just too much but when I was a kid we kicked a ball morning, noon and night. You would come in for dinner and get straight back out again.”

The robotic coaching within pro-youth academies has created a generation of one dimensional players who aren’t taught to think for themselves and Galt is adamant futsal can combine with football to bridge the gap caused by our streets now a place of no ball games allowed.

He said: “I’ve read people such as John Collins coming out and saying boys no longer play in the streets and he’s correct. That’s why futsal is essential to development as it’s as close as you can get to playing the game they way we used to.

“It replicates street football, you attack, defend and try to beat people.

“Futsal creates an environment where you are forced into situations where you need to make quick decisions in the way you would if you were playing in the street.

“If you don’t learn quickly and develop your skills and if you don’t then you get left behind.

“It’s a game where you are constantly involved, if you switch off for a few seconds then you’ll concede a goal.

“It’s very fast paced, it’s exciting to watch and it’s a growing sport across the country.

“I watch kids playing development games and they can go minutes without getting a touch of the ball but they are constantly involved in futsal.

“There is talent out there but something goes wrong within the academy environment in terms of training sessions and how they are set up.

“Kids are going through the motions, they are not in an environment where they are forced to make decisions. I see all these mechanical drills and it dismays me as I don’t see how any kid is learning from that.

“Futsal is constantly putting players into different situations, there is a decision to be made every second. Do I move there? Do I support or cover? Do I shoot or do I pass?

“But there is over-coaching within football development which holds young players back.

“Kids are told they are doing things wrong and are provided the answer, that’s wrong, they need to find that answer for themselves.

"There are many exciting players around now, James McFadden was possibility the last player who was a product of street football. If you look all across Scottish football it’s a struggle to find anyone who you would class as a street player.

“There’s nobody like Faddy who can produce that bit of magic, that ability which comes from playing in the street.”

*Sessions available for kids born between 2009 & 2004 . Sessions based across the city.

Also have a winter Christmas camp 28th - 30th open to kids 2008 to 2004

Email : DavidGalt@JogaFutbol.co.uk

www.JogaFutsalAcademy.co.uk


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