As the winter is flourishing and snow is falling, the Lakeview Girls soccer team has been using the Middle School gym to improve their skills for the upcoming soccer season. The Bulldogs are also joined with the Boys soccer team. As they train together, trying to better themselves as much as they can during the off season, they find their way fitting as much time in as they can to get a couple touches on the ball.
Some may ask why futsal is so important during the offseason for the Bulldogs, and the answer is to simply get more touches on the ball and stay active. Staying active while also getting touches on the ball is so important, especially for some who are not involved with another sport during this winter.
Although, for the dual athlete upcoming Senior Annabelle Humphrey, she shows her excitement for the start of the new pre season. “I love futsal because I get the chance to connect with upcoming players and also see and talk to previous players I haven’t seen since last season!” Humphrey is a dual athlete, balancing soccer and track, but she will always find time to go to futsal.
What is Futsal? Futsal is a very fast paced version of soccer, played in a smaller setting. For the Bulldogs, they play with a smaller weighted ball on the gym court with mini goals. The four main things that the Bulldogs set their focus to improve on is their technical skills, faster decision making, better ball handling, and improved quickness.
An upcoming Junior, Sophie Irwin says “Open gym helps me get better in the off season because it allows me to get touches on the ball with my teammates so we can work how we play together. It also helps me get to know the girls better and how they play too.”
Futsal is a space where anyone in the going into grades 9-12 are invited to! It can be described as a very structured but fun environment. Unfortunately, futsal will have to come to an end eventually. Although, right after futsal ends, open field starts.
Upcoming Senior, Ava Papas explains, “Going into the soccer season with futsal ending pretty soon, I am very excited that open fields are going to be starting because I love getting touches on the field we all play on and also try and get used to playing on the turf once again.”
Another major addition to futsal is team bonding! Team bonding is very important, especially for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs love spending time together and they always find things to do together as a team. For example, in the summer pre season last season, they all went tubing together. Not only was it a fun team bonding experience, but they all grew their friendships and got to know each other so much more than just their soccer selves.
One of the reasons the Bulldogs choose futsal as their off season workout is because they get inspiration from the collegiate level. At the collegiate level, they also use futsal as a way to get touches in and stay in their best shape. During the time spent at Futsal, the girls are split into even teams and they play three minute games against each other. While getting their laughs in, they are also forced to play at speed, ultimately making their decision making much faster and effective.
To sum it up, futsal is something that the Bulldogs have always done, and they always will do. The team shows much excitement for the upcoming soccer season, and they cannot wait to see what the future holds with all the hard work they’re putting in during the off season!
