Make The Court Even Bigger! – Week 19 – Season 8

With the GCSE exam season upon us, we have temporarily moved camp and are now training at the excellent Sports Barn at York St John University. It is a fantastic venue with a larger court than St Peter’s, and it also serves as home to the ladies’ team, so we are in great company.

Today coincided with the Wigginton Girls Football Festival, which meant a few of our regular players were away. However, we still managed to enjoy three brilliant hours of futsal filled with energy, learning, and impressive performances.

Building on the last two sessions where we focused on making the court feel wider, today we turned our attention to making the court feel both bigger and longer. We divided the court into three zones. When in possession, teams had to start with two players in their starting zone and one player in each of the other two zones.

The defending team was not allowed to enter the starting zone until a player had touched the ball. This gave the attacking team time to settle, organise, and work the ball through the zones into the finishing area.

To encourage movement and rotation, we added a rule requiring players to move into a different zone after touching the ball. This constant movement is not something that comes naturally to many footballers, but the players embraced the challenge and adapted brilliantly.

We witnessed some fantastic play, with smart transitions, good positional awareness, and creative movement across the court. A huge well done to everyone involved. Your effort and progress are clear to see.

Players of the Week:

First Hour – Lily N
Someone who plays the game with the biggest smile on her face, Lily is an absolute delight to coach. She is fearless, committed, and wow, can she strike a ball! Today she ran with real intent, carried the ball brilliantly, and caused the opposition all kinds of problems. Top job, Lily!

Second Hour – Naomi L
Coming off the back of a tough day on Saturday, most kids would have taken Sunday off, but not Naomi. Not only did she work her socks off, she also scored some fantastic goals in the process. She is one of those players who soaks up information like a sponge and never lets us down. Amazing attitude, Naomi!

Third Hour – Imogen B
Stepped up to the last group today for the first time and showed what a good player she is. It took the first ten minutes to find her feet, but after that she really showed her quality. Possibly the hardest shot in the club, just don’t give her a chance to score. Excellent session, Imogen!

Final Thoughts of a Coach…

A constant pain for many futsal coaches in the UK is the lack of available facilities. We’ve been incredibly fortunate over the past eight years to have a fantastic relationship with St Peter’s School, who have generously allowed us regular access to their sports hall. They’ve even let us store our futsal goals there, which has made a huge difference.

But every year, around May and June, we find ourselves scrambling for alternative arrangements just to keep training going. Thankfully, this season we’re able to use the Sports Barn at York St John’s University, which has been a real help.

It makes me wonder why we are so short of futsal-friendly venues in the UK. When we travel abroad, it’s easy to see the difference. There are so many more indoor and outdoor futsal venues, and they’re always in use. Here in the UK, we’d love to run an extra one or two nights of futsal in York, but we simply can’t find any available space.

Many schools have handed over the management of their facilities to private companies. While that guarantees schools a steady income, it seems to come at a cost. I hear far too many reports about missed bookings, venues being unexpectedly closed, and poor maintenance.

If we had a lot of money — and we don’t — we would absolutely love to build our own futsal venue. We imagine a place with banked seating, proper changing rooms, a café, and even a high-tech glass floor linked to the coach’s tactics board. Believe it or not, those floors do exist, see below: