ESSDA/SFA Winter Futsal Programme

ESSDA with help and support from the SFA, will once again run a Winter Futsal programme for the 2012 Winter Shutdown.

Fixtures for games at World of Football and Dalkeith Campus are available at the Futsal Fixture page.

Using the Futsal Fixture page you can print personalised fixtures for your club. Alternatively you can print fixtures in PDF format:

• World of Football

• Dalkeith

The programme will run as last year at both Dalkeith and World of Soccer for 9s (2003), 10s (2002), 11s (2001) and 12s (2000). The 8s (2004) will play in a separate programme at Riccarton Campus.
Please note age groups will change in the New Year with current 9s(2002) becoming 10s(2002) for the Futsal program.

Futsal for 8s, 9s-12s will run for 6 weeks starting on 15th January 2012 to 19th February 2012.

Last Year (although the format rules may change) at Dalkeith / World of Football -
Games will last 10 minutes with a 2 minute transition period. Futsal Coordinators will sound a claxon at the start and end of each game. Teams should be aware of where their next game will be to save time during transitions. Teams should start as soon as they are ready to play.

Please advise parents/spectators beforehand that they should step back and allow players to move freely between pitches.

· Coaches and spectators should follow the attached codes of conduct.

· Please find attached the updated rules.

Futsal is a great way for children to develop modern football skills and improve their technique through the winter months. The game helps develop fast, quick thinking , skilful players. The game is played indoors to touchlines not walls, making players use drag backs and other skills to utilise space. With 4v4 outfield it is the optimum number of players to enhance skill and technique.

Why Use Futsal in the Winter to Develop Creative Players?

Over the years Scottish football has been synonymous with exciting and creative players who get fans on the edge of their seats. Players developed naturally in a street environment which has now unfortunately been lost and as a result young players now spend less time practicing individual skills which help creative ability.

The game of futsal has been played in countries such as Brazil for years where they have used this game format to help develop technically competent and creative players. This workshop is designed to help encourage coaches to utilise futsal in the winter months to develop creative aspects of players and create more technically able performers.
Within the game at whatever age and ability level, the 1v1 situation is central to a player's development. To enable players to master these 1v1 situations from an attacking perspective, particular focus should be placed on individual technique training, because technical skill forms
the foundation for tactical play.

For a summary of the Rules of Futsal see the Rules page,
or download and print Rules of Futsal (PDF - 149KB) or (DOC - 436KB)

This Futsal programme is put on with the help of the SFA who have generously subsided this event in previous years.