Soccer-Based Sports: From Futsal to Freestyle
Here’s a fact not everyone knows: soccer actually has many versions!
Beyond the big grass field, and beyond superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi facing off to win the famous World Cup, there are actually at least five other variations on soccer, from stylish futsal to thrilling freestyle.
Playing some of these can have an amazing effect on soccer skills, like futsal with its small court and heavier ball that create agility and coordination in footballers like no other sport can! Futnet and footvolley are great too for helping young players gain confidence and ball control in the air. For that reason, futsal is an integral part of Joük’s program, while futnet, freestyle, footvolley, and panna pop up in our training sessions as well.
FUTSAL:
Origins: Uruguay in the 1930’s. A teacher invented an indoor version of soccer “futbol de sala” or “room soccer,” for the country’s YMCAs. It quickly took off, soon spreading around South America, especially to Brazil. If you’ve ever admired Brazilian footballers’ smooth ball handling and creative dribbles, you’ve seen futsal’s training magic at work! Robinho, Ronaldinho, Neymar, and Ronaldo, among many others, all came up as kids playing futsal. The result is clear.
How it looks: 5 players with a heavier, smaller ball, on a basketball-sized court with a hard floor.
Why we love it: Futsal is amazing at building young footballers’ skills. The space is small and the game moves fast, so they quickly learn tighter ball-handling, nice dribbles, and creative thinking.
Since there are less players, a footballer touches the ball six times more on average during a futsal game than a regular soccer match. That translates to more practice and more fun. Not to mention gains in agility, speed, and quick changes from offense to defense.
Plus it can be played in the middle of a New York winter! We think you can guess by now why futsal is such a big part of Joük.
FUTNET (Also known as Fute-tenis and Soccer Tennis)
Origins: Czech Republic, 1920’s.
How it looks: Like soccer combined with tennis! Players volley the ball over the net without using their hands. It can be played 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3. Today, it’s most popular in Europe, with a world championship for men, women, and youth.
Why we love it: Futnet, besides being really fun, helps develop
volleying skills, controlling the ball from the air, using the thighs and chest, heading, and creativity.
Taking these skills out of the regular game and practicing them within the fun of futnet creates a low-pressure environment where kids more easily pick up new techniques.
FREESTYLE FOOTBALL
Origins: 1990’s in South Korea. Two master footballers, “Mr. Woo” and Kang Sung Min, got inspired by ancient Asian foot juggling games, circus tricks, and Maradona, and created the new sport of freestyle.
How it looks: Freestylers do amazing tricks juggling a soccer ball with any part of the body except hands and elbows. They compete individually to see whose moves are coolest, similar to a dance battle.
Why we love it: Learning to juggle a soccer ball is a vital skill that builds strength, coordination, control, and concentration.
FOOTVOLLEY
Origins: 1960’s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
How it looks: Imagine beach volleyball, but you can’t use your hands or arms! That’s footvolley, played with two players per side. If you guessed that it’s physically demanding, you are right! Yet it’s one of Brazilians’ favorite sports, and is catching on now in Europe and Asia too.
Why we love it: Footvolley improves volleying, heading, coordination, creativity, and physical strength.
PANNA: (a.k.a. Panna K.O. (forKnockout.)
Origins: 1990’s in the Netherlands.
How it looks: Two players face off, trying to put the ball through the other player’s legs and recover it on the other side. Yup, the nutmeg, caño, caneta, panna, or “petit pont,” as it’s known around the world: it’s one of the moves kids most love to master. Panna matches are always one on one, and showcase some amazing fake-outs.
Why we love it: If you can fake out an opponent at close range and nutmeg them, you’re ready to do it in a game! It’s a great chance to practice tricks, ball control, creativity, and cool-as-steel bravery in front of a defender.
Ready to try some of these awesome soccer-related sports? Sign up for Joük summer camps and school-year player development sessions, where we regularly add them to our training lineup.
“In soccer, skill is the art of turning limitations into virtues”