Futsal, Futsal, and More Futsal!

Since I had been gone, one of the neatest developments was the Futsal league. Right before I left, I connected my friend Kyle with Gad, who was a Rwandan interested in creating a Futsal league for Rwanda. Now, you may be wondering if I am just misspelling futsal to mean football. Actually no. They are the same game but different. Futsal is a game similar to football (soccer for us Americans). It was developed in Brazil by taking a deflated football (soccer ball) and stuffing it with socks. Genius! Obviously, there are always deflated are broken balls around that no one wants, so the Brazilians utilized what they had and created a new game called Futsal. The game has now become known world wide and has its own international league. The game is also great for developing skills! Because the ball never bounces off the ground, players are forced to play with their feet and pass. Unlike in Rwanda, where players like to just kick the ball and pass uncontrollably. Playing Futsal is the best thing a player can do to help build their technical skills. So.... it is amazing that the game has now come to Rwanda! While I was gone, Kyle and Gad created a league. They started playing every Saturday at Eco Belge, the Belgium school in town. They took kids that we were already investing in from Saturday soccer camp and my own personal teams and just started teaching them the rules and how to play futsal. Just a few weeks ago they had a big tournament, where teams were able to compete against one another and receive a trophy if they one. The players really, really wanted to win and get the trophy even if it was a $10 plastic one. It means so much to them to win. Also, what is exciting, is that Kyle has also started up a girls league that plays every Friday. Just last Friday, I was able to go and play and coach!