Seminar in Manchester delivered fascinating expertise & discussion

Reflecting on a job well done, the two futsal professionals behind Futsal Insights gave us their thoughts on last weekend’s event in Manchester.

Doug Reed and Simon Wright’s combined vision to build on their years of experience in futsal development at all levels, lead to them creating Futsal Insights with the aim of providing a stimulating futsal forum for sharing leading expertise and promoting collective action.

‘We can certainly consider our very first event to be a positive experience for all of the speakers and attendees involved. The initial feedback we have received is really pleasing’ explained Wright.

‘Both days gave the opportunity for the futsal community to get really tuned into topical, theoretical and coaching discussions. All of the speakers delivered excellent presentations that gave an abundance of insight to take away and digest’.

The first speaker at Futsal Insights was Italian PhD student Luca Oppici who provided a wide ranging overview of his findings, data and assumptions from his UEFA funded study looking into the "Transfer of skills from futsal to football in youth players”

“We wanted to provide something new and of immense value to the futsal community. Luca, Alberto and Jonathan all brought their extensive expertise on topics that had never been covered before anywhere in the world to our knowledge.” commented Reed.

Next up was Spanish World Cup winner Alberto Riquer, now coaching at Inter Movistar, who guided the audience through an in-depth presentation on coaching perception within futsal in order to facilitate better decision-making from players.

‘Alberto really brought home the fundamental components of coaching ‘perception’ within players (or awareness as we would often call it in coaching terms in the UK).

‘It was fascinating to get a sense of how at the elite level so much attention is given to this topic. It was even better that this lesson was coming from a World Cup winner whom in his day was renowned for these key attributes ’ enthused Wright.

The final speaker of the day was Jonathan Sibley from host institution Manchester Metropolitan University who provided a very engaging journey through his ideas and examples on where futsal could look to in the future for shaping its own identity as a sport.

“Jonathan’s presentation intrigued everyone and really created a fascinating discussion. We decided to include this topic as we wanted to get across that it is crucial for the futsal community to not only concern themselves with their own personal development but also help push the development of the sport forward. His talk sparked a debate that is fundamental for the future of the game” was Reed’s view on the talk.

The event was concluded with a practical session with Manchester Futsal Club youth players by Riquer on the subject he had covered theoretically the previous day on perception and decision making. The level of detail he covered, leaning on his vast experience as a player and coach, was outstanding which was greatly appreciated by the observing coaches.

The participants who took advantage of this opportunity for some unique CPD came from varied backgrounds but were united in their interest and passion for futsal. They included the England National Futsal Team Head Coach & Performance Director, an experienced former Premier League footballer, England’s most capped player and coaches of various levels.

With the success and positive feedback from the first event, Wright confirmed they will be looking into organising a second soon. “We want to keep pushing the development of the sport forward and will look to organise another event with leading experts that will bring the futsal community together to learn and discuss opportunities to support each other.”






















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