Futsal Providing Boca Raton's Latest Kick

Boca Raton children are among the rapidly growing number of kids across the nation having a ball with futsal.

First developed in the 1930s as a training exercise for soccer players, futsal joins pickleball on the list of the world's fastest-growing sports. 

Played on courts roughly the size of basketball courts – and often indoors – futsal is a five-man soccer game that uses a smaller, heavier ball. The tighter parameters ensure constant activity.

“You're always near the action,” said Daniel Cavalcanti, futsal director for the Soccer Association of Boca Raton and Team Boca. “In soccer, because of the dimensions of the field, if the ball is in one place, you can be very far, very distant, from the epicenter of the game - which is where the ball is. In futsal, wherever the ball is, you're not too distant and you're still involved in the action.”

As a training drill for soccer, futsal helps players develop better footwork and dribbling skills. As team sport game, the constant speed helps develop creative thinking and playmaking.

“It's a very dynamic sport and you're constantly exposed to the different phases of the game,” Cavalcanti said. “You're constantly transitioning between offense and defense. I think the younger kids enjoy it a little bit more than soccer,”

Futsal's first international competition came in 1965, with the first Futsal World Championship occurring in 1989. U.S. Futsal has held a national championship tournament every year since 1985.

Many of today's soccer greats lavishly praise futsal's impact on their careers.

“During my childhood in Portugal, all we played was futsal,” Cristiano Ronaldo told UEFA.com. “The small playing area helped me improve my close control, and whenever I played futsal I felt free. If it wasn't for futsal, I wouldn't be the player I am today."

To satisfy the growing demand for facilities, the District resurfaced Sugar Sand Park's outdoor roller hockey rink late in 2023 to make it more suitable for fustal. The rink can be divided into three futsal courts, while retaining the basketball rims previously in place and the full-rink hockey component.

Monday through Friday, Team Boca invites the best players from within its organization – different age groups on different days – to futsal training.

On an Tuesday evening in early February girls from the 8- and 9-under teams dribbled, passed and shot on one end of the rink, older youths played pick-up basketball in the middle, and a couple hockey players practiced their skating and shooting on the far end.

Some nights, futsal occupies all three courts.

“It's so beautiful,” Cavalcanti said of the facility. “We couldn't be happier.”

Cavalcanti, in fact, might soon find himself even happier.

Like any outdoor court, rain can render the facility unusable.

Increased demand for the rink, combined with the frequency of South Florida's storms, prompted District Commissioners to issue a Request For Proposals to create a roof above the rink. Along with keeping the surface dry, covering the facility would provide relief from the blazing summer sun.

“With so much demand to use this facility, we want to ensure that visitors who play futsal, hockey, basketball and all other activities are able to use the rink as much as possible,” District chair Erin Wright said.

At the moment Team Boca is only using futsal to aid in soccer training, but there are plans to field dedicated youth futsal teams.

Roughly one dozen South Florida youth soccer organizations currently offer competitive futsal programs. In late December – shortly after the Sugar Sand Park futsal facility opened – Team Boca sent its 11-under girls team to the organization's first competitive tournament.

“We didn't have many kids playing futsal when we started,” said Art Turpel, director of player development and coaching at the Soccer Association of Boca Raton. “Now it's 300-to-400 kids. Ultimately, it's another avenue for the kids to compete.”