FUTSAL BENEFITS THAT MOST DO NOT REALIZE

When most think of indoor soccer they think of turf fields, maybe hockey rinks converted into indoor soccer playing ares. Most do not think of Futsal. But in the last 5 years or so the revolution has started and Futsal is the fastest growing indoor sport in the USA. Futsal Training  and futsal leagues are becoming more popular and the standard when it comes to indoor soccer training. US Soccer has recognized Futsal as the official indoor soccer training to follow FIFA's standards. So most may define Futsal benefits as great for development of foot skills, or passing, receiving or controlling the ball, but here are some additional benefits that you may not have thought about. In futsal players perform more short high intensity runs than outdoor soccer. The fact that those runs are made on hard surface floors and not turf also provide a fitness benefit as accelerating and stopping are more intensity bound. With only 5 players in a futsal game players have more opportunities to defend and attack. All players must defend and attack at all times as well as learn to change positions constantly forcing all players to be able to act as a defender and an attacker. Goalkeepers are called to make saves more often than the outdoor game because of the futsal field size and the futsal game speed. Goalkeepers are also called to use their feet and become part of the attack. Following are some other key benefits as illustrated in the NSCAA Coaches Futsal Level 1 Diploma.

Once again parent and coach education is essential as a lot of indoor facilities advertise futsal training or league play but few actually teach futsal by certified futsal trainers and most facilities run futsal leagues on turf spaces with non certified futsal referees or rules.