4C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015
PARTING SHOTS
A weekly snapshot from The Daily Astorian and Chinook Observer photographers
A sanderling runs along the beach at Fort Stevens State Park in Hammond Jan 8.
JOSHUA BESSEX — The Daily Astorian
Futsal: ‘It’s a much less competitive game’
Continued from Page 1C
“Anything soccer, I get
involved in,” said Boisvert,
who coached both boys and
girls soccer at Astoria, and
has spent countless more
hours coaching area youth
in LCYSA camps.
The need for local Futsal
seemed to make sense.
“Lately we’ve had al-
most no winter soccer
teams,” for high school
age players, Boisvert said.
“There’s always some kids
who are interested, but we
never get enough players to
form teams.
“Indoors seemed like a
nice solution to that, where
nobody has to travel, it
doesn’t cost as much and
you only need six or eight
kids per team. It’s easier
than finding 18 kids who
want to go out in the rain
and cold.”
From South America
The name “Futsal” —
again, according to Wiki-
pedia — “comes from the
Spanish Fútbol sala or fút-
bol de salón, which can be
translated as ‘room foot-
ball.’ It was developed in
Uruguay and Brazil in the
1930s and 1940s.”
A fact that Boisvert con-
firms.
“It’s a game that came
out of Brazil, it’s played all
over South America, and is
only now catching on in the
United States,” he said. “In-
door soccer is a little bigger
and played on a court about
the size of an ice rink.
“It’s the same basic
skills,” he said of Futsal. “A
lot of pros train that way,
and it’s really caught on
in Europe. Same skills (as
soccer), but you’re in really
tight spaces. A whole court
is less than the space of an
18-yard box.”
DAMIAN MULINIX — EO Media Group
As the elementary-school-age teams finish up their games on the gym floor below, mid-
dle-school-age players get warmed up by playing in the mezzanine of the Astoria Armory.
A Futsal “court” is about
the size of a basketball
court. There’s a goalie, with
four field players. There’s a
few rule differences, but it’s
basically the same.
Ball control is at a premi-
um, Boisvert said.
“You have to be able to
keep the ball on your feet,
and it’s a faster surface than
grass, so skill development
is fantastic.”
While Boisvert is “most-
ly refereeing and organiz-
ing, helping build the nets
and putting lines down,”
Plechl is “one of the new
bloods that have really run
with it,” Boisvert said. “An-
drea (Burch) is helping with
registration and has children
who love to play. David has
a love for soccer, and he’s
young and energetic.”
Plechl said, “Indoor soc-
cer gives us another good
healthy option for indoor
activity. Also, we’re help-
ing to get things going at
the Armory, which is a tre-
mendous space for all kinds
of things.”
And “The adult league is
bringing much needed life
to Star of the Sea.”
And who
plays Futsal?
“So far, it’s basical-
ly been the rec players,”
Boisvert said. “Each team
has a coach or an orga-
nizer. We started in early
November, with about 105
kids, then Dave Plechl had
some adults come in and
they’re playing on Thurs-
day nights.
The Armory is “A beau-
tiful facility,” Boisvert said.
“The floor is very big, so
we put a net down the mid-
dle and split the floor into
two courts. When the bigger
kids are playing, they play
two games at a time.
“It’s a big, wide open
space with a high ceiling.
Just ideal for sports (such as
basketball, volleyball, ten-
nis and roller derby). The
DAMIAN MULINIX — EO Media Group
Nine-year-old Beckett Turner easily palms a Futsal ball af-
ter a recent game.
DAMIAN MULINIX — EO Media
Group
Tristan Katelnikoff of Long
Beach, Wash., shows off
his cleatless soccer shoes,
used for playing Futsal.
Friends of the Armory are
trying to lease it to different
people, so the LCYSA went
in for two nights a week to
see what the interest level
is.”
He added, “The LCY-
SA put about $6,000 into
getting equipment and put-
ting lines down and boards
to kick the ball off of. It’s
something we’ve talked
about doing for a long, long
time, to offer indoor soccer
during the rainy season.”
The potential for growth
of Futsal “is pretty phe-
nomenal,” Boisvert said. “I
think it’s a great recreation-
al opportunity. It’s a much
less competitive game —
charging and slide-tackling
are out — and it lends itself
very well to coed play.
It doesn’t mean you can’t
play it at a high level, he
said. It can get really fast,
with lots of shots.
ts
Presen
Live at the
Liberty Theater, Astoria
Tickets $15 - $20 - $25 at the Liberty Box office & www.TicketsWest.com/
“You’re always within
reach of the goal.”
The goal for a Futsal
league, he said, would be
to have three, eight- to 10-
week seasons, fall, winter
and spring.
“We’re hoping for spon-
sors. Ultimately, if it’s go-
ing to happen, the commu-
nity will hopefully catch on
to this.
“Kids seem to have spo-
ken that they want some-
thing different. They’ve got
12 to 15 indoor facilities in
the Portland metropolitan
area. You can play in all
kinds of leagues. It’s a good
choice in Oregon.”
March 6 7:30 pm
His only Oregon
performance!