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There are some good points here. I 100% believe that Alexandria doesn't play futsal like they do outdoors. In outdoor, they play an open, possession style. In futsal, they play a tight, low block and look to counter attack with very little possession. I feel like like what they learn in futsal here does not translate to outdoor at all. I'm not saying that's wrong, I'm just commenting. I also agree that, because of this, there should be little correlation between the outdoor team and the futsal team. So if they are just having "fake" tryouts, that's a problem. |
Some kids are fantastic Futsal players, excellent ball skill and great in tight spaces while on a full field are not as impactful. I see the exact opposite too, good outdoor player who doesn’t have the ball skill/quick think or swagger for Futsal. Also, turf does not come close to replicating court conditions. Tryouts on turf are difficult to assess. |
| We approach Futsal with our kids as a chance to take chances and focus on individual skill, not so much as tactical/running plays. I’m not so sure a program that stifles the individual risk-taking in favor of running set plays is what we are looking for. Can someone familiar with the ID program speak to that? Do they come down on kids for risk taking for wins and require quick release immediately? |
Alexandria Futsal ID teams are built for one thing and one thing only...to win tournaments. I'm not saying they don't work on individual skill in training but, if you son holds the ball too long or tries some fancy move he just learned instead of laying it off and loses the ball, he's on the bench. |
In our experience, this is not correct at all. It all depends on who is doing the move and when (and of course, against whom). My son's team had plenty of players like this who were not on the bench. There is emphasis on rapid ball movement but obviously individual skill can create 3 v 2s or 2 v1s in a hurry. |
That is emphasized more for older ages and higher colors as is typical with other clubs. The ID tryouts are anything but fake due to math. An 11-sided outdoor team normally carries a roster of about 18. A 5-sided futsal team carries a roster of about 9. One-half the size. Thus, there are plenty of disparities between outdoor color and futsal color. In addition, I've noticed several players outside the club getting ID roster spots this time around. |
Those are not good points. The players with the best technical skills will be picked for the top team for both soccer and futsal. I would expect the overlap to be over 95% if the pool of players is the same. If the futsal roster is smaller than the soccer roster I would be surprised if anyone on the 2nd soccer team made the first futsal team. |
Agree with this. Technical ability is the key requirement for futsal and athleticism is much less important than for soccer. So - for a club like Alexandria which emphasizes technical ability on its soccer teams - this will be even more true. |
There is an emphasis on technical ability in selection criteria, but the club plays these sports very differently, and appropriately so. The tryouts are not fake at all and are very competitive within the club among players on the same outdoor teams. Some second team outdoor players play on the first team (and make significant contributions) and a good portion of first team players by definition cannot play on smaller-rostered first teams in futsal. Alexandria is happy to see players try out from other clubs for its futsal teams and will give them a real look, no question about it, just as it does with outdoor tryouts. |
Not if they never get a chance on the top field at tryouts. |
| ^have to agree with that. At least what I saw with older age groups. |
Right, exactly. Which is why my son is a better futsal player than soccer. He is more technical than athletic (though he is not unathletic, just average). His coach said this same thing and said that he was surprised that my son did not make the lowest level of the futsal ID teams (the same color as our soccer team). Of course, everything is subjective and maybe whoever was evaluating him saw things differently, but it didn't feel like he was given a chance. |
The former is true (first team soccer players on second team futsal due to small size of teams), but I am not aware of any situation where the latter has occurred in my three kids' years. I'm not saying it never does, but it's certainly not common. |
Rosters much smaller + outside players coming in for futsal = much harder to make equivalent color roster. |