With our first home academy game of the new year taking place later at 11am, we once again dropped to just two hours of coaching. While the weather outside was wet and miserable, the girls were on fire indoors!

Today’s session focused on a game where every player started with a cone in their hand. After making a successful pass, they had to drop their cone. Once every player on a team had dropped their cone, they were free to go and try to score. If a team lost possession, players had to pick up their cone again before they were allowed to tackle the opposition.

It’s a fun game, but definitely a bit confusing at the start. Players were running all over the court, some with cones, some without, and at times tackling players they probably shouldn’t have been! As the session went on, though, things began to click. We saw some good passages of play and a few goals too, even if there was the odd bit of cheating and rule-bending along the way…

First Hour – Iris W – A proper mighty mouse today! One of the smallest on court, Iris got to grips with the game very quickly and moved the ball smartly and efficiently with her teammates. She played quick, early passes and worked incredibly hard to win the ball back. A fantastic session, well done, Iris!

Second Hour – Daisy S – Daisy was outstanding today. Her first touch was fantastic, which allowed her to play with much more composure on the court. This was a huge step forward in every aspect of her game, she looked a very strong player and her confidence was sky-high throughout the session. A top performance today, well done Daisy!

The French Football Federation has unveiled an ambitious new futsal roadmap, following the strong success of its previous strategy. With futsal now a top federation priority, the momentum is clear.

🔹 €10m annual investment in futsal
🔹 100,000 registered players targeted by 2032
🔹 200,000 school participants, now France’s top school sport
🔹 50% of players under 18
🔹 New Centre of Excellence, U19 national and women leagues & Olympic 2032 preparation

I read this with envious eyes. Because while France is investing, promoting, and planning for the future, the FA in England is doing nothing, no promotion, no investment, no strategy, not even a public explanation.

It hurts. Truly. Across England, people pour their heart and soul into futsal. Coaches and clubs work tirelessly to grow the game. Players give up huge amounts of time and money just to compete, some even pay to represent their country. Something is clearly wrong with futsal in the UK, yet no one at the very top will say why. The silence is deafening.

If futsal isn’t valued, believed in, or wanted, please just say so. For everyone’s sanity, honesty would be far better than just being ignored.

A few images from today: