Living in Canada provides many challenges for our young soccer players. The long winters mean that we inevitable have to move inside to maintain training programs from October-April. The climate has in the past been used as a reason behind Canada’s lack of progress on the world stage. However, with Nordic countries such as Denmark and Norway (with populations of less than 5 million) ranking 28^th and 32^nd respectively in FIFA’s world rankings, compared to Canada ranked 56^th, climate is not the only challenges we face.   

 “No time plus no space equals better skills. Futebol de Salao (Futsal) is our national laboratory of improvisation.”. 

 (A Brazil Coach Quoted in Daniel Coyle’s Book “The Talent Code”

The nature of the game and the design of the ball combine to make Futebol de Salao an exciting sport suitable for both girls and boys. This and the associated training and coaching methods, focus on developing players that are creative, skilful and confident.  

The game is played with a specially designed ball. It differs from a conventional ball in a number of ways: it is smaller (size 2) than a conventional ball (size 5), heavier and is filled with foam to reduce its bounce (10%). This encourages the players to use their soccer skills and to increase the use of dribbling and short-passing throughout a game.

Following FIFA's decision to promote the game of Futsal (5-a-side played with a size 4 ball with 20-25% rebound) Futebol de Salão has virtually died out in South America and is now developed globally through the International Confederation of Futebol de Salão  (ICFDS) who see the game as being the best start for children in soccer.

Academic research has confirmed that Futbol de Salao provides young soccer players with greater opportunities to perform basic individual skills such as dribbling, passing and control more successfully. 

Read Academic Results at www.icfds.com/burlington

A few weeks ago, we launched our first indoor Futebol De Salao league in Burlington on Saturday mornings and we have enclosed some clips of the skills now being displayed by some of our players who have working with us over the last 12 months. The players are now demonstrating increased confidence with the ball at their feet, incorporating several of the moves that they have learned and use the bottom part of the foot frequently to retain possession when faced with tight spaces and increased pressure from the opposition. The players in the video range from ages 5-8.

Moving indoors during the winter months and playing Futebol de Salao  can provide our young players in Canada with increased opportunities to develop their technical skills gain greater enjoyment from the game