Futsal News from Saint Thomas - Ontario Canada,

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Futsal gains momentum

New Game in Town: The sport is compared to playing basketball with your feet and is gaining in popularity at all age levels

R. Mark Butterwick - Times-Journal
Elgin High School Futsal vice-president Andrew Buttigieg, left and president Tim Fennema have seen great demand for the fledgling league.
Futsal is not soccer. Let’s get that straight right from the start. As the game has evolved over the decades, it’s become more like basketball with your feet. Of course the origins are from the world’s favourite sport, drawn indoors for weather reasons. But, oh, things have changed. Futsal has taken on its own identity as its rules have matured.
Its popularity is growing by leaps and bounds and it has taken a firm hold here in St. Thomas. The London St. Thomas Futsal League offers play for children up to age 14, as well as adults . . . leaving a gap for middle-teens (ages 15 to 17). Enter the Elgin High School Futsal League. The “high school” in its title is strictly there to define the age of the players, as the league has no connection with the Thames Valley Region Athletic Association which governs high school sports locally. This league runs under the direction of president Tim Fennema, along with vice-president Andrew Buttigieg. “I remember when futsal started we would four or five kids in each age group,” Fennema said, recalling the early days of the game here. “Every year it would grow and grow and now we have waiting lists. “The parents love it. The kids love it. The kids that don’t play hockey and the kids that don’t play football in high school, it gives them something to do for next to no money.
It’s awesome for everybody.” Futsal in St. Thomas dominates the gyms at Central Elgin Collegiate Institute and Arthur Voaden Secondary School on the weekend, with games sliding over to St. Joseph’s High School on occasion. It’s CECI on Saturday for the Elgin league’s five games, then CECI and AVSS on Sunday for the London St. Thomas loop’s 17 contests. There are 80 players in the new teen league and about 240 playing on London St. Thomas teams. Add in the 40 youngsters who participate in the instructional group and there are about 360 people currently playing futsal locally.
“The instructional kids, that’s fairly new,” Fennema said. “It’s no organized teams, it’s a lot of four-, five-and six-year-olds who get together at 1 o’clock on Sundays at Central Elgin to play and learn.” Fennema describes the game as basketball with your feet. “You have to keep (the ball) in the boundaries, you can foul out. On a fifth personal foul you’re out. “There are penalty kicks starting at the sixth team foul from the second penalty mark (nine metres instead of the regular penalty kick spot which is six metres). “The goalie crease is pretty much the three-point line.”
While the Elgin league has five boys teams and four girls squads, “people are calling every day to see if they can play.” “We’re coming to the end of the season, there are two weeks left, and every player and every coach is asking if we can keep going,” Fennema said. “We have to have a championship, but the demand has been so big that we’re going to start another league.” The league’s final tournament is set for Dec. 18, but the second season will start Jan. 15, Fennema said. “We’re going to start it up again and I’m thinking there’s going to be more teams.
We use five time slots now, but we can start at 9 a.m. and go on from there all day. “I can see this getting very big, very fast.” Some of that credit, Fennema said, goes to those who have helped get the league off the ground. “People like Gerry Safadi, Bob Luft, Carmen Luft, Gus Karahalios and Norm Dinner have been such a big help.” To join up for the new season or for more information, call Fennema at 519-719-9283 or Buttigieg at 519671-7614. Check the tee