Futsal is a growing sport, and we are looking to provide more opportunities for young boys and girls to play. That's why we're running some free taster sessions, so you can come and see what all the hype is about.
What: An hour of fun games and matches to introduce players to the sport.
Where: Warsash Wasps, New Road, Warsash, Southampton SO31 9UH.
When: Friday 1st and 8th of April. Sunday 3rd and 24th of April.
How much: Free!
Bring: Indoor shoes and plenty to drink.
Who: Anyone is welcome. Bring your friends. Primary school ages are school years 2-6. Senior school ages are school years 7-11. All players are invited to try futsal, regardless of ability or experience.
Why futsal?
Well, not only is it amazing fun, it's also great for your football development. It increases your game understanding and speed of thought, while also improving your first touch, skill, and 1v1 abilities. It's a creative game with lots of beneficial transfer to football. Come along and give it a go in a no stress, friendly, fun environment.
Want to know what a game of futsal is like? Here's the highlights of our recent win over University of Liverpool.
Who are we?
We are the Southampton Aztecs. Formed just last year, we have a women's team competing in the FA National Futsal Series. What that means is that we are amongst the best teams in the land, playing games all over England, with our matches shown live on BT Sport and on YouTube. This coming Saturday the 26th, we are on BT for an 11:15 kick off versus Birmingham WLV.
What does this lead to?
We want to create more futsal playing opportunities for male and female players in the area. We love the game and think it should become way more prominent in England. Parents would surely love it too, as it is inside and sheltered from the elements, meaning nobody gets cold, wet, or muddy, and games are never cancelled due to bad weather.
Futsal is fast-paced, fun, exciting, and full of goals. It is a very skilful game that requires a lot of tactical knowledge, intelligence, and creativity. Physicality is often part of it, but a strong or fast player is less likely to dominate the futsal court in the same way they would the football pitch.
Futsal can also be viewed in two distinct ways. One is that it is a sport in its own right, with separate teams, leagues, competitions, rules, and governing bodies. The other is that it is a great donor sport which supplements football development. This is why many professional academies use futsal as part of their training programmes, and why many of the world's top footballers credit futsal to much of their football playing ability.
Some of the differences are that futsal is always 5v5, meaning a lot more touches and engagement for each individual. The goalkeeper has way more involvement, as you can see from the video above where our keeper Lauren is way out of her goal, and provides the assist. The ball is heavier and has a reduced bounce. This allows the game to be played quicker, and helps develop first touch and ball manipulation skills. Subs are rolling throughout the game, meaning lots more game time, especially for younger players. The goals are 2x3m, meaning that your shots have to be very accurate to beat the goalkeeper, as they are much narrower than typical 5v5 goals.
What are we looking to do?
Since we believe futsal is for everybody, here's what we'd like to do, and will be aiming to set this up over the summer.
Academy Teams: Likely from U10-U16 for boys and girls, these will be futsal specific teams, that train together, and have a regular schedule of competitive games.
Development Centres: These will be weekly training sessions for anybody who wishes to attend. These are not teams, and there will be no fixtures. These will be training sessions that are futsal specific, which players can view as supplementary to their football training, using futsal as a development tool.
Just Play Sessions: Exactly as the name suggests. Turn up, pick teams, play. No training or coaching, simply assigning players onto teams, and then playing matches for an hour.
We want to build a club that feeds into a senior men's and women's team. To do this, we need more players, coaches, and parents in the area who are clued up and experienced within futsal. As expected, with futsal being an under-developed sport in England, we have to do our part to raise the bar locally. If you want to be part of this, let us know who you are and what you want to do here.
Perhaps you want to play on TV one day, maybe you'd like to develop your football skills, or maybe you'd just like to have fun for an hour. We can provide any and all of it.