New Year, Same Quality! – Week 12 – Season 8

Welcome back everyone to the start of another exciting year of futsal! A belated Happy New Year to all our players, parents and coaches! With the start of 4 weeks for the various age groups for the 1st ever York Futsal Cup coming up in a week’s time, the players had only one week to get back into the swing of playing futsal!
With all grassroots football being cancelled due to the rock-hard pitches, we welcomed 10 players from Wigginton Football Club U10s to come and try futsal before they come back in a week to enter the U10s Cup. They were fab young ladies and a real credit to their club – good luck next week ladies!
The session today was a quick revisit of the core skills of futsal – sole of the foot, few touches, being positive with the ball, finishing as close to the goal as possible and the coach’s favourite, recovery! In each age group the players started slow but as is usually the way, they finished on fire. We saw some great one and two touch play, lots of hard work and above all else, lots of smiles.

Players of the Week:
First Hour – Beatrix P – she is yet another new player to the club and one who plays with a huge smile on her face, so good to watch. Very strong in her tackling and not afraid to stand up to the bigger players. It’s a fab start to your futsal journey Beatrix, and long may it continue!
Second Hour – Imogen B – what haven’t we said about this young lady before, she is dynamic, fast, powerful and wow what a finisher, just don’t give her the ball anywhere near the goal, as the outcome is almost always a goal. Add to this she is one of the nicest players in the club and we know we have a future lady’s player in our midst. Top job, as always Imogen!
Third Hour – Sofia C – the demon finisher today, with a hatful of goals. One of the players who just goes about her work with no fuss and is improving week on week. With the one touch finishing today she was always in the right place at the right time, so good to watch. Top job today Sofia!
Fourth Hour – Sienna S – another one of the so-called quiet ones, who lets her futsal do the talking. She is never afraid to get the ball, even under pressure and always looks to do the right thing. She is a delight to coach, always listens and asked loads of brilliant questions. Showing us what a top player you are Sienna, fab day!

Final Thoughts of a Coach…
I am a big believer in competition, especially playing against teams and player you don’t normally play against. But and this is huge but, we must manage the environment to make it worthwhile for both teams. Too often in youth sport you come up against teams that have gone out and ‘attracted’ the best players in their area and roller-coast everyone each week. I would seriously question the coach as to what the learning is, especially if you are winning games by double figures week after week….
As a club we have seen the tremendous progress from our U12s this season in the West Riding Girls Futsal League. A new group of girls at the start of the seasons, they have bonded brilliantly, have the right support from their parents and have been told to go out and enjoy themselves, to play futsal and not worry about the results. They have just got better and better each time they have played, scoring some fantastic goals in the process, but also digging deep and defending as a unit when needed. A huge thank you to John and Connor at the West Riding Girls Futsal League for giving our club at all our age groups that opportunity to play new teams on a regular basis – it has been fab and long may it continue!
The next 4 week see us host the first ever York Girls Futsal Cup, with 16 teams playing across 4 weeks at 4 age groups. I have no idea what to expect – lots of drama, smiles, a few tears, close games, great goals, fab saves – it’s gonna be amazing. Huge thank you to all the clubs and coaches who have supported us and Walker Crips Financial Planning for sponsoring the event.
I know 2025 will be another amazing year for Bootham and futsal!
Coach Chris