News

New brand of indoor soccer in Vermilion this fall

Francois Biber
Vermilion Standard

With soccer players soon heading indoors for the winter, Vermilion Soccer Association (VSA) president Sean Kingston is implementing a new version of indoor soccer called futsal. Futsal is an abbreviation of Futbol Sala, which in Spanish means indoor soccer. However the game is very different from what players have come to know as indoor soccer. A couple of years ago Lakeland College vice-president Ralph Trouski introduced the sport to the college."Volleyball, basketball and rowing were well-established so we wanted to introduce another team sport," said Trouski."So far we've done very well as a college. Last year our varsity men's team won the provincial championships and the women's team made it into the playoffs." Trouski said he brought the game to Kingston explaining how futsal is a much better training tool than traditional indoor soccer.

"With kids the problem has been that half the time they're chasing the ball on a hardwood floor because the ball bounces so much and it's never at their feet," said Trouski. In previous years Vermilion indoor soccer consisted of playing in a gym where players used an outdoor soccer ball and were allowed to play the ball of the walls. Futsal is played with teams of four players plus a goalkeeper. There are no set positions except for the goalkeeper and the game is meant to promote attacking rather than defense.

"What we want to promote is to have kids go one-on-one," explained Trouski. Players can substitute on the fly similar to hockey and there are penalties on top of red and yellow cards. The biggest change according to Trouski is the futsal ball.
"The futsal ball is smaller and easier to control so it's a better learning tool and because it doesn't bounce very much it doesn't get away from them as much and that allows you to play the un-boarded game," said Trouski emphasizing how indoor soccer is meant to train players for the outdoor season.

The futsal ball is especially manufactured smaller and with a different weight which prevents the ball from bouncing all over the place. Kingston said he's happy Vermilion soccer is heading in this direction as players have the opportunity to learn and improve their ball-control skills and learn techniques they can use on the field."I think it's going to be a positive move for the Vermilion Soccer Association as we'll be adopting a new form of indoor soccer and moving away from boarded indoor soccer," said Kingston.

The Futsal season begins on Monday, November 7 and the VSA is still accepting registration. Currently they have enough to field a U6, U10, U14 and U6 teams but are still looking for interested players. Games will be played at the Vermilion Elementary School gym on Mondays and Kingston plans on holding a couple of weekend tournament throughout the season here in Vermilion.