First proper session of the year, and everyone was raring to go.

After the warm up we got the players to see how many sets of cones they could pass the ball through in pairs, whilst travelling about the court in 60 seconds.  This was then progressed to dribbling the ball through different gates set out on the court.

The pairs were then challenged to see how fast they could dribble the ball across the court and back, but always remaining in control of the ball.  We emphasised keeping the ball in play at both sides of the court, not letting it run away.  This was progressed to using forwards and backwards toe taps.  There was some serious cheating going on by some of the boys, so we got them to practise their press-ups as a reward!

Click here to see some images from tonight’s session

The focus on the evening was being positive with the ball.  We talked about futsal being an invasion game and what the players understood by that.  We split the court in half and played some 1v1’s with keepers.  Players were encouraged to go quickly and try to get beyond the defender, and to make sure they had a shot if possible.  We then tried 2v1 with a goalkeeper and really challenged one of the players to get quickly beyond the defender, to be brave with their run.  This was brilliant to watch and the tempo really increased with this practice.

Click here to watch a short video of goalkeeper Ellen’s double save

We split the players into 4 teams and played some really high intensity 3 minute games.  Again we really encouraged the team in possession to get players as quickly beyond the opposition as possible.  The coaches really enjoyed watching the matches as players started to realise how fast a game of futsal can be!

A great start to the year with some brilliant learning for all involved.  We have a lot of different abilities on show, so we are going to have to work hard to get the best out of everyone each week!

Girls’ player of the week – Matilde – we don’t think she has stopped running yet!  Fantastic start to the new futsal year, and some of the tackles she put in on the boys, well, some of them are still recovering this morning!  Brilliant display.

Boys’ player of the week – Jacob – another player that ran all night.  He showed some lovely touches on the ball, with great technique, and all with a smile on his face.  Great start to the new year!