Northern Ireland stages futsal seminar

Northern Ireland is preparing for its first ever futsal international after staging a UEFA course for futsal coach educators in Belfast.

The programme combined the theoretical side of futsal with the practical elements, including the principles of goalkeeping, attacking and defensive transitions, tactical knowledge, set pieces and how to orchestrate a training session in futsal. It was a specific 'tutor-the-tutor' seminar and an example of UEFA's tailor-made support to its member associations who are looking to implement the new UEFA Futsal B licence at their respective national levels.

There was an emphasis on fitness, with Spanish national team fitness coach Antonio Bores leading a session on warm-ups, cool-downs and stretching exercises, as well as exercises to build endurance, speed, strength and coordination. Representatives from England, Scotland, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Belgium and Slovenia joined the hosts.

Michael Boyd, director of football development of the Irish Football Association (IFA), said: "It's been a fantastic learning experience for us. We're new in the futsal world and to learn from some of the experts and to see so many practical sessions to inspire us has been fantastic. From this course, Scotland has invited us for our first ever international futsal match so that gives us a goal to work towards."

One of the instructors, Portugal coach Jorge Braz, added: "I think these kind of coaching courses play a decisive role in further developing the game. There are a lot of countries that are trying to progress and increase their quality and the main aspect is the quality of their coaches. UEFA is looking to improve those aspects of the game and that allows us to make huge steps in futsal."

José Venancio López, the Spain coach, said: "This has been very important for the associations who have less of a tradition in futsal. It's bred a great deal of motivation to develop the sport and the coaches in it. Futsal can help football development in their countries and it can be an important specialisation to be developed in the future. All of the information and guidelines were there for them to organise coaching courses in accordance with their needs as they are aware that the key to developing futsal lies in the training of the coaches."