Courtesy: Wicked Local - Concord


Futsal: Concord youth headed to national trial

by Stephen Tobey

When Jiacheng Kang started playing futsal four years ago, he didn't like it.

Eventually, the game grew on him and he's glad it did.

Kang, who is in the eighth grade at the Sanborn Middle School in Concord, has been invited to the the U.S. Youth Futsal National I.D. trial in Kansas from July 13-15 of 2017. The U.S. Youth Futsal National I.D. Trials brings together the best Youth Futsal players in the nation as judged at all State Futsal I.D. Trials earlier in the year. Top players at the Trial will be selected for U.S. Youth National team.

Futsal is a kind of indoor soccer played with teams of five (4 field players and a goalie) on a playing area the size of a basketball court. In Kang's age group, the games are played in two 25-minute halves.

"It's a much faster pace," Kang said. "There's a lot more scoring. The ball is the same size as a regular soccer ball, but it's heavier so it doesn't bounce as much."

Kang plays for Netripper FC, a program that draws athletes from several communities and practices at the Nashoba Brook School in Concord.

He went to the state trial at Forekicks in Marlborough after his coach, Soorena Farboodmanesh, recommended that he give it a shot.

Kang, who also plays soccer in the Concord-Carlisle Youth Soccer program, practices with Netripper once a week and plays three games on the weekends.

"You have to play as a team," he said. "You have to know where everyone else is all the time. You have to think more quickly and play more quickly."

Next year, Kang will attend either Concord-Carlisle or Phillips Academy in Andover. He plans on playing soccer at either school.

He's also looking forward to his trip to Kansas next summer.

"I hope to get on the national team," he said.


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