With Bootham hosting the final round of the West Riding Girls Futsal League we were back to 3 hours again! Well done to the girls in the training sessions, fantastic attitude from them all.

The session today revolved around 3v3v3 on a small court with 4 small goals, one in each corner. At first it was chaos with each team on the court, with the only rule being you couldn’t score in the same goal twice. We then got one team to occupy the goals, and the others played 3v3. We asked the players to think about where they should attack, with one goal being left empty, and asked the goalkeepers to tray and defend all 4 goals. As is the way, it started slow, but we finished with some good switches of play, attaching the empty goal and making the goalkeepers run all over the court, great to watch!

Notable Players of the Session

1st Session – Emily C – Emily had a fab match the other day against the older girls and continued today with great tackling, fab passing and all round great futsal! Not the biggest lady but a huge heart! Top job Emily!

2nd Session – Mollie C – One of our experienced players, albeit, a very young one. Mollie has great feet, can run with the ball and beat players for fun. She has started to develop her futsal brain and takes up great positions on the court to receive the ball. One to keep an eye on!

3rd Hour – Toni S – Having missed the last few weeks through illness, we noticed she was back! Arguably the best feet in the club, the ball seems to stick to them, and a real eye for goal. She has everything to become a fantastic futsal player and one we look for each and every week!

Final thoughts of a coach – So this week I am going to have a moan, not a big one but a moan. Here is the hypothetical situation. A game, or mini tournament is arranged, and one of the teams talks about bringing at least 2 teams, fab! Reminders are sent out, maps provided and then 9pm on the day before they drop out sighting they do not have enough players for the game….I do my due diligence and see they have 20 plus players registered for their 11 a side team…..so I’m guessing, yes they could bring a team, but not the players they want….

What really gets to me is, if this was a football grassroots league or cup game, they wouldn’t dare do this, or the know they risk getting a fine or the club in trouble, but when it comes to futsal, they honestly don’t care. Only so much you can take before you must have a moan….as this has happened numerous times to us this season.

And while on the subject, and I know this one will really annoy some clubs and coaches, can we please stop using futsal to promote footballers. I see futsal clubs proud of players who have left them and gone to sign football contracts! Why, they have been lost to futsal…I don’t see this a win for futsal, not at all. Ok, please don’t think I am belittling the success of the players, I am very pleased for the player, they have worked hard for this opportunity, but why are the futsal clubs celebrating losing a player? Seems a very odd situation…

Ok, rant over, sorry if you are upset or not happy with what I write. My suggestion, spend 7 years building a club from nothing, spend an ungodly number of unpaid hours to promote a sport that the FA are not bothered about, work with some amazing players and families to see them leave the sport when the pathway ends….

A frustrated Coach Chris