New funding from The FA to give female players in Dorset their first taste of Futsal

Further Education Girls Futsal League in Dorset to be launched in early 2020

Female teenagers aged 16+ in Dorset will soon be given the chance to try out Futsal for the first time thanks to funding from The Football Association (The FA).

In June, The FA made £300,000 available to County Football Associations, FA-affiliated clubs, youth and adult football leagues who wished to develop either one or two new Futsal leagues, as they ramped up efforts to encourage more people to play the sport in England.

The scheme, which is delivered by the Football Foundation, awarded grants of £1,500 to applicants per league created, with money being used towards associated costs of facility hire, equipment, referees and FA-affiliated courses.

Futsal is the UEFA and FIFA recognised format of five- a- side football but it differs from the version that we know in this country. It is played on a firm indoor pitch, with Hockey sized goals. It is played to lines rather than walls or boards and the ball differs in being slightly smaller and with a reduced bounce. 

Taken together these differences lead to a game that is fast, skilful and tactical. For these reasons Futsal is being adopted as a game in its own right as well as useful development experience for young footballers.

A number of football’s biggest names credit Futsal as playing a significant role in their professional football development, with Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi Hernandez and Ronaldinho having all played the sport in their younger years.

Justine Mosley, County Development Manager at Dorset FA , said:

“It is fantastic to have been awarded a Football Foundation grant to help support the development of a Further Education Girls Futsal League in Dorset! The funding will allow us to offer a structured opportunity for FE students who are likely to have never experienced the format before. We already offer girls FE football opportunities here at The Specsavers County Ground so to increase our offer for this age group to include Futsal will be a great addition to engaging girls aged 16+ in activities. We have an Activator employed at the County FA with a specific focus on Futsal so we can offer education institutions that are keen free taster sessions of Futsal to prepare them for entry into the league. We plan to launch the league in early 2020 so anyone interested in finding out more, please do get in touch!” 

About the Football Foundation: 

Founded in 2000, the Football Foundation is the largest sports charity in the UK funded by the Premier League, The FA and Government, via Sport England. It develops new and refurbished grassroots sports facilities in order to improve the quality and experience of playing sport at the grassroots level. Since it was launched in 2000, the Foundation has awarded over 17,000 grants worth more than £682m towards improving grassroots sport, which it has used to attract additional partnership funding of £878m – totalling over £1.5bn of investment into the grassroots game.

By providing more high-quality facilities, coupled with coaching at the appropriate age group, the Football Foundation aims to improve the experience for regular players as well as attracting new players to the game. Many of the new state-of-the-art facilities will serve to strengthen the connection between professional football clubs and their local communities, particularly in the most deprived areas of the country, through the professional clubs’ community trusts’ outreach work.