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How can futsal thrive in the North-East?




Following the club's Scottish Futsal Super League title win, we have had a rise in local interest in the sport and a lot of kind words from people about how quickly the club has grown. However, from our perspective the club hasn’t even scratched the surface in terms of the potential for the sport in the North-East. While we may have achieved at adult level, we are still stuck in the starting blocks when comparing our youth activity to the likes of Futsal Escocia in Fife and Joga in Glasgow.


So the question we have is, what does the sport need to be a success in the North East? We have set out our current thinking but we really need wider, more diverse views, so if you have any opinions on this subject then please get in touch.


  • Youth football club links and coach development

While our own Winter youth sessions have faced waiting lists across all age groups, relying on our own sessions means we are constrained by the time that our coaches can give.

In our first year (Winter 22/23), we ran sessions at two sites (one at Lochside and one at Bridge of Don). Ultimately, the time strain resulted in the Bridge of Don sessions being cancelled for Winter 23/24. This wasn’t a decision that we took lightly given we were losing around 50 – 60 weekly youth players as a result.


To try and counter this, we took on two halls at Lochside for Winter 23/24. While the groups sold out, we did feel the disconnect across two halls had a negative effect on the cohesion of the sessions.


This points us to the most effective way of growing the game being to get the involvement of youth football clubs, their players and their coaches. From the popular youth tournaments we ran at RGU in Jan / Feb 23, we know there is a high demand for the sport, particularly at a time of year when outdoor football falls victim to the weather more often that not. We have also struggled to respond to a high volume of requests from boys + girls clubs to run individual sessions for their teams. This all points to the demand being there, but the co-ordination isn’t.


Our proposal to address this is to do two things:


  1. We intend to sponsor a youth futsal coaching clinic at RGU in the coming months, bringing a youth futsal expert to Aberdeen so that interested coaches in the area can come along and see how they can effectively run futsal training sessions of their own in Winter 24/25.

  2. We intend to provide the equipment required, and co-ordinate venues and teams to run a fortnightly midweek futsal league for Winter 24/25 for interested boys and girls football clubs. Children in other areas of Scotland get the benefit of this and we strongly believe Aberdeen should be no different.


If coaches from your club are interested in attending in a youth coaching clinic, or  you have a team interested in entering a Winter league structure then please get in touch.


  • Facilities


We often get told there are not enough facilities in Aberdeen to support futsal. In the previous two Winter seasons, this has definitely not been our experience at youth + recreational level. While some of the most attractive venues in Aberdeen are hard to secure, all that is needed is a suitably big indoor court if the coaches have access to suitable nets and futsals.


If you see facilities as being a blocker to what would otherwise motivate you to engage with futsal then please get in contact and we can share experiences.


Admittedly, the added cost of indoor courts is a challenge when compared to football. However the guarantee of activity and player development in Winter shouldn’t be overlooked. We believe this presents great opportunities for sponsors to get onboard and support driving the fast growth of the sport, which could alleviate this pressure.


  • Equipment

All that is really required is nets and appropriate balls. If nothing else (but we really think teams can and should go much further), we would heavily encourage boys and girls clubs to use futsals if training indoors next year. It can be quite a difficult watch seeing youth players with footballs bouncing everywhere at 100 miles per hour!


What do you think?


This is just our starter for ten. What we are really interested in is what you think the sport needs to be successful in the North East. Whatever your views, positive or negative, then please get in touch with the club.

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