🥅 Soccer-Based Sports: From Futsal to Freestyle ⚽️
Did you know soccer actually has many versions?
Beyond the big grass field, and superstars like Rodri and Mbappe facing off in the Champions’ League, today there are at least five other variations on soccer/ soccer spin-off sports played around the world:
Futsal
Futnet
Freestyle
Footvolley
Panna
Each is a sport unto itself, with its own competitions and rules.
But they’re all also great for youth soccer players just looking to build new skills.
Futsal with its small court and heavier ball, creates agility and coordination in soccer players like no other sport can.
Futnet and footvolley level up young players´ confidence and ball control in the air.
At JOÜK, we believe in incorporating all these soccer-spinoff sports into our training, both for a fun change of pace, and for all the youth soccer training benefits they offer.
Find out more about each one below:
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.
Read more about Futsal’s origins here.
HOW it’s played:
5 players with a heavier, smaller ball, on a basketball-sized court with a hard floor.
Training Benefits:
The space is small and the game moves fast, so youth players quickly learn tighter ball-handling, nice dribbles, and creative thinking.
Since there are only 5 players, each one 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
Improved speed
Quick changes from offense to defense.
Plus, it can be played year-round indoors, making it a favorite for snowy cities like ours (NYC).
Read about 7 Reasons why Futsal is great training for youth players here.
FUTNET (Also known as Fute-tenis and Soccer Tennis):
Origins:
Czech Republic, 1920’s.
HOW it’s played:
Similar to tennis, 1, 2, or even 3 players on each side of a court volley a ball over a net (just, of course, it’s a soccer ball, not a tennis ball).
Today, it’s most popular in Europe, with a world championship for men, women, and youth.
Training Benefits:
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 soccer game and practicing them within the fun of futnet creates a low-pressure environment where kids more easily pick up new techniques.
Read more about Futnet’s Training Benefits here.
FREESTYLE:
Origins:
1990’s in South Korea. Two master footballers, “Mr. Woo” and Kang Sung Min, got inspired by ancient foot juggling games like Jegichagi, circus tricks, and Maradona, and created the new sport of freestyle.
HOW it’s played:
Freestylers do amazing tricks juggling and balancing a soccer ball with any part of the body except hands and elbows. They compete individually to see who pulls off the best moves, similar to a dance battle.
Training Benefits:
Learning to juggle a soccer ball is a vital skill that builds strength, coordination, control, speed, and concentration. Plus, it’s just really fun to master new moves with the ball and show them off to your friends!
FOOTVOLLEY:
Origins:
Footvolley was invented in Brazil in the 1960’s by soccer players who came up with a creative solution for the era’s “no soccer on the beach” laws.
HOW it’s played:
Similar to beach volleyball, 2 players to a side (sometimes 3 or 4) are allowed 3 hits to the ball to get it over the net.
But, unlike volleyball, players can’t use their arms or hands. Instead they hit the ball with their feet, legs, chest, and head.
If you guessed that it’s physically demanding, you are right! You’ll get in really good shape playing footvolley. Today it’s one of Brazilians’ favorite sports, and is catching on now in Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia too.
Training Benefits:
Footvolley improves:
Volleying (of course)
Heading with accuracy
Leg strength
Overall fitness and endurance, since in footvolley, players are jumping, running, and kicking almost non-stop
See 6 🔥 Videos That Show Why Footvolley is Great Training for Every Youth Soccer Player here.
PANNA: (a.k.a. Panna K.O., for Knock Out):
Origins:
Panna was created by players from Surinam, and expanded in the Netherlands’ immigrant neighborhoods in the 90’s/early 2000´s. “Panna” means “gate” in Surinam’s language (Sranan Tongo).
HOW it’s played:
Two players face off 1 v 1 in a small space, trying to score as many goals as they can in just 3 minutes. There’s one way to win instantly: put the ball through the other player’s legs and recover it on the other side—a nutmeg, caño, caneta, or “petit pont,” as it’s known around the world.
All that means you’ll see some amazing ball control and feints in this sport.
Training Benefits:
If you can fake out an opponent at close range and nutmeg them 1-on-1, you’re ready to do it in a soccer game! It’s a great chance to practice:
Tricks with style
Ball control
Creativity
Cool-as-steel nerves in front of a defender—and maybe even an audience…
Ready to try some of these great soccer-related sports? Sign up for JOÜK summer camps and year-round player development training, where we regularly add them to our training lineup. See you on the field, court + playground soon!
“In soccer, skill is the art of turning limitations into virtues”