Futsal coming to Livi for Lions cubs

Dec 30 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

LIVINGSTON Football Club are aiming to follow in the studmarks of Spanish giants Barcelona and introduce their youngest players to futsal.

Futsal is played with a smaller and heavier ball than its outdoor cousin and is popular with football clubs across the world as a means of developing technical ability among their younger starlets.

Now, following on from a recent visit to the Nou Camp and to Barcelona’s world renowned Youth Academy, the Lions have decided to roll out the game to their own youth teams.

Head of Youth Development, Brian Welsh is convinced that young players at Livingston, and in Scotland as a whole, can benefit from playing futsal.

He said: “Futsal is all about technique and having seen it put into practice at Barcelona, I'm convinced that it's something that can help us produce more skilful players in Scotland.

“So far we've introduced it to a development squad which is part of our Community coaching system, and also into our younger age group Youth Initiative teams – kids at under 11 and 12.

“At these younger age groups, it's particularly effective because the futsal ball is smaller and has less bounce than a 'normal' football, so players take more touches and can develop their ball control.

“Football should be fun above all else and in the futsal sessions, our coaches are really just facilitators.

“What the coaches do is let the kids play, let them try tricks with the ball and allow them to express themselves.

“I believe that giving kids time and space to develop their skills is the way to go.

“Once they have mastered the ball then you can teach them the tactical side of the game.”

Club Chairman, Gordon McDougall is another futsal convert.

And he hailed the adoption of the game as an opportunity for Scottish football to develop the type of skilful player that helped Spain to celebrate World Cup glory in the summer.

He added: “It's well known that the top players in world football at present have used this offshoot of football throughout their development.

“Numerous top coaches claim that the indoor game creates more technically gifted and creative players.

“Futsal is certainly something we'll be exposing our young players as a means of going forward into the future.

“There's an irony, though, that many years ago, when I sat on an SFA committee, we turned down the opportunity to make futsal part of the culture in Scotland, as it was seen then as being 'in competition' with football and the objectives of the SFA.”