The Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup, in partnership with England Football returns for the 2023 season, with Essex seeing 49 teams participating in this year’s competition. This year’s regional finals in Essex begin this month.

In Essex, the following teams are participating in this year’s boys’ competition:

Additionally, the following teams will be competition in the girls’ competition: 

The Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup, in partnership with England Football gives young players across the country the chance to get involved in this energy-packed game, compete against other teams and go all the way to the national finals.

Peter Murphy, Senior Director of Marketing at the Pokémon Company International, commented: “Following the success of last year, Pokémon is thrilled to see its national futsal competition go from strength to strength, with the 2022/23 season seeing a record number of participants. It’s great to see teams who enjoyed competing last year sign up again this year and continue to develop their futsal skills, alongside the many new clubs we are welcoming to the competition this year. With the regionals fast approaching, this year’s competition is set to be our best yet.”

Louise Gear, The FA’s Head of Development added: “We are delighted to see so many teams register once again to take part in this year’s competition and we’re excited to see what the 2022/23 season brings. Thousands of children from clubs up and down the country will be participating in what promises to be an exciting and fun competition for all involved, and we look forward to seeing who will be crowned winners come the finals.”

Jake Ling, Football Development Officer & Male Pathway Lead at Essex FA, said: “We are really pleased to be hosting the Pokémon Futsal Cup for another year this March. We are keen to build on the success of the competition we hosted last season and are preparing for a much larger competition this season across the mixed & girls competitions.

We have several Futsal dedicated clubs affiliate to Essex County FA, so it is our responsibility to ensure they have opportunities to participate in competitions such us these, to support their development and sustainability in providing a different offer within the grassroots community.

Competitions such as the Pokémon Futsal Cup is a great way to showcase the game of Futsal and for those that aren’t familiar with the game to experience its many technical benefits it has linked to football as well as the great enjoyment the fast-paced, smaller format game has to offer.

We will continue to support grassroots futsal participation and work alongside England Futsal to create more opportunities as the game continues to grow within our County.”

Pokémon is the title partner of the FA’s Youth Futsal Programme which aims to work with boys and girls aged eight–sixteen. Alongside the Pokémon Futsal initiative in schools, youth football clubs across the country will take part in this season’s Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup by England Football, with competition kicking off in November and culminating at the national finals in July 2023.

To find out more about this season’s Pokémon Futsal Youth Cup head to mastertheball.com