At St Albans School this week the year 3, 4, 5 and 6 children are doing Futsal lessons with Sam from Mainland Football. Each class goes out to the astroturf for half an hour at a time. Over two weeks each class will have 5 sessions.
During the first session the main skills that the children learnt were to do with dribbling the futsal ball. This ball is a bit smaller and heavier than a soccer ball and not as bouncy. The ball is stuffed with cotton.
When you are dribbling a futsal ball you use six different parts of your foot:
- laces
- inside
- outside
- heel
- toe
- sole
Sam explained that in Futsal the sole is the most important part of your foot. He called it the brake because you use it to stop the ball. As you know exactly where the ball is when your foot is on it, you are able to spend time looking around to see where spaces and other players are.
The children played a number of mini games that made them use different ways to control the ball. After they were able to control it effectively Sam introduced a new challenge. The children had to move from space to space and coloured dot to dot. Some children found it a real challenge NOT to use their hands!
One day perhaps, if everyone keeps practising they will be able to play in a futsal team like Sam.
