The winter futsal program helps U6–U10 players improve their foot skills in a fun, fast-paced, high-energy environment! Players who participate in winter programming get more touches on the ball and spend more time with their teammates, maintaining their soccer skills during the off-season and becoming better prepared for summer competition. Playing in gyms rather than on turf, the sessions will emphasize foot skills and 5v5 scrimmages. Players will wear clean athletic shoes rather than cleats.

 

2024–25 WINTER FUTSAL DETAILS

Participants in the winter futsal program meet one evening per week from November through March, for a total of 15 training sessions over the course of the winter. The fee is $100 for all participants. 

Due to physical space limitations, the futsal program is capped at 80 total registrants (20 for each of four groups: U6, U8, U9 & U10 boys, and U9 & U10 girls). Please register early in order to guarantee your player's spot. Registration closes on Wednesday, Nov. 6.  Late registrations will be accepted if space is available.  If you would like to check availability in your child's age group, please contact Tammy at admin@northfieldsoccer.org

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.

• U6 & U7 (2019 and 2018 birth years)
  • Tuesdays from 5:30-6:15 p.m.
  • Nov. 19, 2024–March 11, 2025
  • Northfield School District Office building (former Longfellow School)
    201 Orchard Street, Northfield
• U8 (2017 birth year)
  • Tuesdays from 6:30-7:15 p.m.
  • Nov. 19, 2024–March 11, 2025
  • Northfield School District Office building (former Longfellow School)
    201 Orchard Street, Northfield
• U9 & U10 BOYS (2016 and 2015 birth years) - No Availability
  • Wednesdays from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
  • Nov. 13, 2024–March 12, 2025
  • Spring Creek Elementary School gym
    1400 Maple Street, Northfield
• U9 & U10 GIRLS (2016 and 2015 birth years)
  • Wednesdays from 7:30-8:30 p.m.
  • Nov. 13, 2024–March 12, 2025
  • Spring Creek Elementary School gym
    1400 Maple Street, Northfield

Players born in 2014 or earlier should register for our winter training program held at the Dundas Dome.

 

LEADERSHIP, COACHING & PARENT INVOLVEMENT

The 2024-25 winter futsal program will be led by Sam Steinberg. Sam has coached for many years in our in-house and academy programs, and is a member of the Northfield Soccer Club Board. And as a high school science teacher and parent of three, he has a ton of experience working with kids!

We also are looking for parent volunteers to assist with coaching. No soccer experience is necessary. Please reach out to sam@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 assistant coach!

 

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.