Along with
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, the sport of
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...
in the United States is a rapidly-growing phenomenon.
The
Major League Futsal (MLF) is an amateur futsal league. The
Professional Futsal League (PFL) was supposed to become the first professional futsal league in the United States in 2018; however, it never began play. There is currently no professional futsal league in the United States, although there is increasing support for one and many regions have their own leagues.
US Soccer is the sport's governing body in the United States. Futsal Across America and New York Futsal have become leaders in Futsal. Leslie Hamer, who represented Falcao in PFL negotiations, has taken the lead in representing coaches and players. Futsal Across America has created developmental Futsal programs for schools, clubs and communities.
The national team has placed runner-up in
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...
and third place in
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
at the
FIFA Futsal World Cup
The FIFA Futsal World Cup is an international futsal competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. Since the first edition that took place in 1989 in the Netherland ...
.
On the youth levels, especially in states with colder weather, 5v5 soccer/futsal is commonly played.
The US also is home to charitable futsal leagues such as the TSC Futsal League which benefits St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The TSC Futsal League started with 4 before expanding to 9 teams as they are coming up on their fifth season. Chris Dailey, founder of the league, said, "the league is a massive success and has helped raise nearly $2000 for St. Jude. It's truly the beautiful game for a beautiful cause." The teams include the Milkmen Futsal Club, AFC Donuts, Jersey Hooligans, Amigos FC, Pasadena Purple Cows, Las Vegas Fighting Pickles, Ulsan Pancakes Society of Soccer, Midtown Mafia FC, and Minutemen FC.
References
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