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Mexico - October 10, 2024 21:00FIFA Training Centre reportMexico's futsal ecosystemCourtesy: FIFA Training Centre

How Mexico redefined its futsal ecosystem in three years

FIFA,10 Oct 2024

Futsal is a sport of global appeal, yet many countries lack the basic infrastructure for those who want to pursue the sport. In just three years, Mexico has proven itself a perfect example of how a country can overcome this challenge.

Mexico has a fine record in 11-a-side football and beach soccer, but until recently it had been absent from the top echelons of futsal, with players only able to compete at amateur levels. In this series of presentations (each of which is followed by a brief Q&A) three leading figures from the Mexican Football Association (FMF) explain how they went about building the country’s presence on and off the court.

Good practice
Prior to setting grand objectives regarding futsal development, conduct a thorough analysis of the sport’s current ecosystem within your country. Use the findings to set a more effective strategy and tangible objectives.

Implementing high-quality competitions is an important step to establishing futsal within a region. Embedding criteria such as a minimum number of U-21 players within competitions can further foster talent development.

Introduce futsal-specific technical courses for those teenagers passionate about the sport. These courses cultivate the technical skills that set it apart from football and other similar sports.



Summary


Part 1: The Mexican futsal ecosystem (Edgar Andrade, Technical Director)

Prior to 2021, Mexico did not have a professional futsal league or specialist futsal coaches. before the Mexican football federation could change that, it needed to develop a strategy for futsal in the country, aided by advice and support from FIFA. To draw up that plan, it arranged a series of meetings that brought together all the relevant stakeholders, with the FMF, clubs and representatives of Mexico’s amateur futsal leagues all actively involved. They also conducted a thorough analysis of the Mexican futsal ecosystem in order to identify the country’s strengths and weaknesses. On the basis of that analysis, they came up with three strategic objectives covering capacity-building, regulation and the national teams, with work in each of these areas being led by a different department with the FMF.

The latter part of this presentation focuses on the specific work completed in each of the three strategic areas and the progress that the FMF has been able to deliver. The clearest indication of that progress was the staging of the country’s first national championship. but the arrival of the very first official FIFA futsal coaching course in Mexico could prove even more significant for the long-term development of the sport. So far, 35 coaches have completed the Level 1 course, thus ensuring that Mexico will have a pool of coaching expertise to draw upon in the future. There is still plenty of work to do, but the FMF has certainly laid the groundwork for future success.


Part 2: Establishing futsal competitions (Karla Grajales, Coordinator, Mexican National Women’s Futsal League)

Establishing regular, high-tournaments was a big part of the Mexican futsal plan. In May 2022, the FMF held its first national futsal tournament, which was organised with the support of FIFA. It featured 21 teams in all, including 9 women’s sides. The quality of the futsal on show was also surprisingly good for what was an amateur competition. This success was followed by the foundation of the Mexican futsal league, which was launched in September 2023 in order to put the game on a more formal footing. Crucially, the rules mandated that all teams had to include a minimum number of U20 players, a requirement that gave youngsters a direct pathway into the professional game. An impressive 34 teams responded to the initial call for entries, with the winners facing off in national finals supported directly by FIFA.

All in all, the future looks bright for Mexican domestic futsal, with the 2024-2025 season about to get underway. Developing the game is a long-term project, but it is already starting to bear fruit, with the newly-formed men’s national side having advanced through the group stage of their World Cup qualifying tournament before being edged out by Guatemala in the quarter final. With the first Women’s Futsal World Cup to come in 2025, there is every sign that Mexico can become a serious contender in the both the men’s and women’s game.


Part 3: Developing technical expertise (Vicente Claudio de Luise, futsal instructor and coach)

The third part of the Mexican futsal strategy was all about boosting technical expertise. The first event aimed at improving this area took place in 2022, and one of its primary aims was simply to raise awareness of the game; although plenty of Mexicans played football indoors, they had no knowledge of futsal as a discipline. Training for futsal and football is very similar up to the age of 12, and that similarity should ensure a steady supply of promising players for the Mexican futsal programme.

In February of 2023, an online meeting shifted the attention of the Mexican football community to the rules of futsal – rules with they were not familiar at the time. Of course, as in any sport, the rules have a profound effect on the way the game is played, so developing an understanding of them (and how they differ from the Laws of the Game) is crucial to the technical development of futsal in Mexico. The event also generated a fascinating tactical and technical discussion that included players, coaches and referees.

All this work eventually culminated in the delivery of the first FIFA-accredited technical training course dedicated to futsal in Mexico. Once players reach the age of twelve, they begin to work on futsal-specific skills, including the ability to retain and use possession in extremely small spaces. To make best use of those skills, coaches need to study futsal as a separate discipline, and the course provides a solid foundation from which to do so.


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com
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