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FUTSAL
 
 

FUTSAL FRENZY SET TO SPREAD ACROSS THE COUNTY
 
Futsal is on the rise throughout Essex thanks to several pioneering new tournaments and festivals being organised around the County to raise the profile of the small-sided format of the Beautiful Game, designed to enhance close control and allow more touches of the ball.
 
The very first Basildon Futsal Fair Play Festival took place last month at Barstable School, which followed hot on the heels of a themed event at Newham Leisure Centre to mark the prestige of the African Cup of Nations. The Basildon event, set-up in partnership with the District Council, the Essex Competition Management Team and the Essex County F.A., aimed to provide children with the opportunity to express themselves by playing this fast-flowing game and to show off the skills they had learned.
 
Over thirty-five children from school Years Seven and Eight participated in the Barstable School occasion which included sportsmanship as a central focus. Teams were awarded Fair Play Points by the referees which were added to their match points to decide the festival winners who, 
on this occasion, were De La Salle 'B'. Due to the success of the event, the partners involved now aim to continue to raise the profile of the game further in the Basildon District and provide more opportunities for young people to get involved.
 
Elsewhere in Basildon, the Markhams Chase Centre have been organising their own tournament under the guidance of Greg Regan with the goal of providing a side to compete in the national F.A. Futsal Cup. "We have a good selection of teams taking part from Basildon, Canvey Island, Benfleet, Leigh-on-Sea and Barking so hopefully they will all spread the Futsal message," he explained. "We're just starting out at the minute but all the teams that have played so far are very keen to play again which is a positive! With Futsal being new to all the teams there will be a learning curve but so far all the teams have adapted well."

The Centre have been supportive in allowing Greg to store equipment, be flexible with bookings and keep line markings down. They already run a Youth Futsal session on Wednesdays and have been working with their Sports Development Officer in taking Futsal into Basildon schools. Now Greg is keen to spread the word of Futsal locally, adding: "Hopefully we can eventually establish a full-time league in Basildon. Nothing would give me greater satisfaction than to see Futsal develop in the County, as I know what a great game it is with all the benefits it brings."

Meanwhile Forest Gate School kicked their way to victory in Newham's African Cup of Nations Futsal Tournament at Newham Leisure Centre in Plaistow recently. After a series of competitions for Year Eight secondary school boys, teams from Eastlea, Royal Docks, Rokeby, Little Ilford and Forest Gate battled it out in the final.

Each team represented a country that featured in the finals of the Cup of Nations, which was held in early February in Ghana. After a hard-fought battle, Forest Gate School, who were representing Guinea, defeated Cumberland School's Cameroon team 2-1 on penalties.

Community Lead Councillor for Plaistow, Ayub Korom Ali, supported teams in the final and said: "This is a great way to prepare our youngsters for the biggest Olympic challenge in 2012. There was tremendous passion shown by the young people and I hope this effort will result in great community and sporting pride."

Richard Santos, 12, captained his team to success and said: "It was amazing to win. We were trained well and the whole squad played great. Futsal is a good game to improve movement and skills."