Street-Style Soccer Given Toe-hold

Feb 10th, 2008 Courtesy: The Gazette  www.gazette.com

Street-style soccer given toe-hold. Association using Futsal to develop skills

by JOHN MEAGHER, The Gazette

Futsal is played around the world and now the game, a form of street soccer, is taking hold in the West Island.

Last winter, the Pierrefonds Soccer Association introduced a four-team indoor Futsal league for the under-11 and U-12 girls categories.

Organizer Bernard Le Jour said the experimental league was such a success in terms of skill development, he decided to expand the program this year to other age categories.

With registration for the winter 2009 season now open, Le Jour is hoping for enough players to create four-team divisions in U-8 and U-9, U-10 and U-11, U-12 and U-13 for boys and girls.

“In Pierrefonds, we want to use Futsal as a means to develop creativity amongst our espoir players from the U-8 to U-13 age levels,” Le Jour said.

“Futsal has been used very widely in Brazil as a development platform for their youth program.”

Le Jour is opening the Futsal league to players from other West Island soccer clubs, adding it’s just a matter of time before the game catches on fire here.

“For the ones that never heard of Futsal, it is a game played on a hard floor surface with a special ball that does not bounce as much as a regular soccer ball.”

Games of 5-vs.-5 (including goalkeepers) are played on surfaces the size of a large basketball court. Players get a lot of ball touches in quick-paced games, facilitating their skill development.

“Needless to say, the results obtained so far are phenomenal,” Le Jour said. “In fact, the goal is to let the players express themselves without the constraints of coaching, just like street soccer.”

The program will cover 20 weeks starting early November and ending in late March. Each game will consist of two 25-minute halves. Most games will be played on weekends at Collège Gérald-Godin. Cost is $140 per player. For more information, contact Le Jour at asplus@videotron.ca or by phone at 514-941-3410.