The winter futsal program helps U6–U10 players improve their foot skills in a fun, fast-paced, high-energy environment! Playing in a gymnasium rather than on turf, the sessions will emphasize foot skills and 5v5 scrimmages. Players will wear clean athletic shoes rather than cleats.

2026 WINTER FUTSAL DETAILS: 

• 11 sessions, once per week on Monday or Wednesday evenings (depending on age)
• 45 or 60 minutes of training per session (depending on age)
• All sessions held at the Northfield Community Education Center gym (former Greenvale school building)
• Fee: $110

Due to physical space limitations, the futsal program is capped at 80 total registrants (20 for each of four groups: U6-7, U8, U9 & U10 boys, and U9 & U10 girls). Please register early in order to guarantee your player's spot. We will maintain a waitlist after the registration caps are met; please reach out to Tammy at admin@northfieldsoccer.org if you are unable to register and wish to be added to a waitlist. 

Players will be grouped by age and gender, as enrollment allows, into the anticipated session times below. If we experience higher or lower demand in a particular group, we may make a shift and will communicate that change to those who have registered.

FUTSAL DATES & TIMES

Mondays | Jan. 5-March 16*:

• U6 & U7 (2020 & 2019 birth years, all genders): 5:30-6:15 p.m.
• U8 (2018 birth year, all genders): 6:30-7:15 p.m.

*All Northfield Public Schools buildings will be closed on Monday, Jan. 19, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, so we will hold training that week on Thursday, Jan. 22 instead, and 30 minutes later. U6 & U7 will train from 6-6:45 p.m., and U8 will train from 7-7:45 p.m.

Wednesdays | Jan. 7-March 18: 

• U9 & U10 Boys (2017 & 2016 birth years): 5:30-6:30 p.m.
• U9 & U10 Girls (2017 & 2016 birth years): 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Players born in 2015 or earlier should register for our winter training program held at the Dundas Dome.

LEADERSHIP, COACHING & PARENT INVOLVEMENT

The 2026 winter futsal program will be led by Zach Spindler-Krage. Academy players and families will know Zach from his leadership of our fall 2025 Academy program. He also has experience coaching in our traveling program at the U14 level.

We also are looking for parent volunteers to assist with futsal training. No soccer experience is necessary. Please reach out to Tammy at admin@northfieldsoccer.org to express interest.

Due to limited space in the gyms, parents will not be able to stay and watch their child during training sessions. If you'd like to be present, please volunteer to assist!

WHY FUTSAL?

Born nearly 100 years ago in Uruguay as a rainy day training activity, futsal was adopted and codified in Brazil during the 1930s. It is widely credited with equipping children growing up in the favelas with the skills to “dribble their way out of a phone booth.” Picture the likes of Péle awing the world on his World Cup debut in 1958, Ronaldinho’s famous “elastico” or Neymar’s lightning fast dribbling that leaves defenders embarrassed on the floor and you will have seen the impact of futsal on the beautiful game. Alex Bellos, author of Futebol: Soccer, the Brazilian Way, wrote, futsal “is regarded as the incubator of the Brazilian soul.”

Futsal resembles soccer but is played in a significantly more confined space with a slightly heavier ball. Whereas we know soccer to be played on a pitch of roughly 100 meters in length by 50 meters in width, futsal is played on basketball or tennis courts with 5 or 6 players on each side. The exaggeratedly shrunken space forces players to have significantly more touches on the ball than they would on a regulation sized pitch, thereby growing ball handling skills more quickly. Since players must think more quickly, their skill development and confidence is accelerated. Over the last 25 years, futsal has been adopted around the world as the favored indoor training method.

We will introduce futsal to our younger age groups with the aim of entrenching fundamental skills and wiring their minds to instinctively move the ball with rapidity and accuracy. For the child who wants to grow into a better soccer player, futsal is a tremendous catalyst.