Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year, my son played futsal for the first time as a u11 and absolutely loved it. This year, the technical director in our regular outdoor academy recommended that u12 not do futsal because they will begin playing 11 a side in the spring. He believes it may counter productive to go from a tiny space to a huge field. The argument is legit, however we still signed up for futsal because its fun and my boy has no illusions on going pro.
I wonder what is everyone's opinion.
I know this is purely circumstantial but I listed to an interview by the now retired Brazilian Marcelo from Real Madrid and he mentioned that he played only futsal until the age of 15, then started playing outdoors.

This entirely depends on your son’s outdoor level of play.

If he is elite, then futsal should at most be for fun when out of season with zero structure.

If he is not elite, do whatever, just have fun.

Numerous reasons why at u12 and older futsal is a huge net negative for outdoor play. But take-home is that it takes 2 years to untrain futsal for outdoor players. And age 14 is a big year for elite players.

I think that you will find all of the elite U12 players in the DMV are playing structured futsal on teams in very structured tournaments. This is a comment made with zero experience and very foolish. Do not listen to this “advice”.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Last year, my son played futsal for the first time as a u11 and absolutely loved it. This year, the technical director in our regular outdoor academy recommended that u12 not do futsal because they will begin playing 11 a side in the spring. He believes it may counter productive to go from a tiny space to a huge field. The argument is legit, however we still signed up for futsal because its fun and my boy has no illusions on going pro.
I wonder what is everyone's opinion.
I know this is purely circumstantial but I listed to an interview by the now retired Brazilian Marcelo from Real Madrid and he mentioned that he played only futsal until the age of 15, then started playing outdoors.

This entirely depends on your son’s outdoor level of play.

If he is elite, then futsal should at most be for fun when out of season with zero structure.

If he is not elite, do whatever, just have fun.

Numerous reasons why at u12 and older futsal is a huge net negative for outdoor play. But take-home is that it takes 2 years to untrain futsal for outdoor players. And age 14 is a big year for elite players.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Futsal in the U.S. has largely become a money grab.

There are real developmental benefits, but they are acquired quickly. For most outdoor primary players, diminishing marginal returns kick in early and hard.

As with anything, context matters. Your level, position, and long term goals should dictate how much futsal actually helps. A lot of the marketing leans on “futsal made” narratives tied to elite Latin American players, but that framing is misleading. Small sided games have always been a cornerstone of player development. Professional clubs still use them daily in training.

Futsal is simply one version of small sided football, not a magic formula. And unlike mini field 6v6 models such as Cruyff Soccer, futsal has several highly specific constraints that do not scale cleanly to the outdoor game. These include more head down play, tighter and more compact movement patterns, and consistently shorter passing distances, among others.

Used limited and intentionally, futsal can be a useful tool. Used excessively or sold as a cure all, it becomes expensive repetition with limited transfer.

Its a money grab because most of the "Futsal" programs are not actually playing or teaching real futsal. It is glorified skills training marketed as futsal. Futsal, when coached correctly, is the most powerful development tool players have access to until around U13/U14. Futsal when played at a high level requires exponentially more decisions (with AND WITHOUT the ball) than outdoor soccer. THIS is what makes futsal such a powerful development tool. The ball mastery and cone drills are gimmicky and often times do regress players by leading to "head down play". Real futsal does not. Small sided pickup games of any kind are the key ingredient of individual quality and creativity, but Futsal is what develops game understanding.

You cannot argue with the facts. Brazilian clubs are developing the worlds BEST talent. EVERY player in Brazil plays futsal either exclusively or primarily until the ages of 12 or 13. They are able to transfer seamlessly to the outdoor pitch between the ages of 12-15, depending on the players specific developmental needs. Small sided pickup games of any kind are the key ingredient of individual quality and creativity, but Futsal is what develops game understanding.

Can soccer players be successful without playing Futsal? Sure. But it is undeniably an incredibly beneficial tool.

Anonymous wrote:Last year, my son played futsal for the first time as a u11 and absolutely loved it. This year, the technical director in our regular outdoor academy recommended that u12 not do futsal because they will begin playing 11 a side in the spring. He believes it may counter productive to go from a tiny space to a huge field. The argument is legit, however we still signed up for futsal because its fun and my boy has no illusions on going pro.
I wonder what is everyone's opinion.
I know this is purely circumstantial but I listed to an interview by the now retired Brazilian Marcelo from Real Madrid and he mentioned that he played only futsal until the age of 15, then started playing outdoors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Futsal in the U.S. has largely become a money grab.

There are real developmental benefits, but they are acquired quickly. For most outdoor primary players, diminishing marginal returns kick in early and hard.

As with anything, context matters. Your level, position, and long term goals should dictate how much futsal actually helps. A lot of the marketing leans on “futsal made” narratives tied to elite Latin American players, but that framing is misleading. Small sided games have always been a cornerstone of player development. Professional clubs still use them daily in training.

Futsal is simply one version of small sided football, not a magic formula. And unlike mini field 6v6 models such as Cruyff Soccer, futsal has several highly specific constraints that do not scale cleanly to the outdoor game. These include more head down play, tighter and more compact movement patterns, and consistently shorter passing distances, among others.

Used limited and intentionally, futsal can be a useful tool. Used excessively or sold as a cure all, it becomes expensive repetition with limited transfer.

Its a money grab because most of the "Futsal" programs are not actually playing or teaching real futsal. It is glorified skills training marketed as futsal. Futsal, when coached correctly, is the most powerful development tool players have access to until around U13/U14. Futsal when played at a high level requires exponentially more decisions (with AND WITHOUT the ball) than outdoor soccer. THIS is what makes futsal such a powerful development tool. The ball mastery and cone drills are gimmicky and often times do regress players by leading to "head down play". Real futsal does not. Small sided pickup games of any kind are the key ingredient of individual quality and creativity, but Futsal is what develops game understanding.

You cannot argue with the facts. Brazilian clubs are developing the worlds BEST talent. EVERY player in Brazil plays futsal either exclusively or primarily until the ages of 12 or 13. They are able to transfer seamlessly to the outdoor pitch between the ages of 12-15, depending on the players specific developmental needs. Small sided pickup games of any kind are the key ingredient of individual quality and creativity, but Futsal is what develops game understanding.

Can soccer players be successful without playing Futsal? Sure. But it is undeniably an incredibly beneficial tool.

Anonymous wrote:Futsal in the U.S. has largely become a money grab.

There are real developmental benefits, but they are acquired quickly. For most outdoor primary players, diminishing marginal returns kick in early and hard.

As with anything, context matters. Your level, position, and long term goals should dictate how much futsal actually helps. A lot of the marketing leans on “futsal made” narratives tied to elite Latin American players, but that framing is misleading. Small sided games have always been a cornerstone of player development. Professional clubs still use them daily in training.

Futsal is simply one version of small sided football, not a magic formula. And unlike mini field 6v6 models such as Cruyff Soccer, futsal has several highly specific constraints that do not scale cleanly to the outdoor game. These include more head down play, tighter and more compact movement patterns, and consistently shorter passing distances, among others.

Used limited and intentionally, futsal can be a useful tool. Used excessively or sold as a cure all, it becomes expensive repetition with limited transfer.