I am a new user to the Futsal On Line news group. I love futsal and
just found this site. It is full of great information. I was at
the recent US Futsal Federation National Championship in Anaheim and
it was fantastic. I saw another comment on this site about the
championship so figured I should voice my opinion.

My team(s) have qualified a few times from the state competition and
then to the regional competition and then on to the national
championship. This past national championship was the best futsal
competition I have ever attended. The competition is getting better
and better. I did not encounter any problems with the competition
registration. I presented my team's information (player passes and
roster) to the US Futsal Federation staff at registration. They
reviewed my information with the data they had on file and handed me
the passes for the competition.

The playing surface was spectacular. Te ball moved very well and
the players had good footing. Someone said it was a Snap Court
surface. I wish we could play on this surface all the time. My
players would just get better.

The Anaheim Convention Center looked great. The set up was very
professional and well done. We had a few balls go under the netting
hanging behind the goal but overall that did not pose a hazard for
anyone or delay the game. I'm sure that in Baltimore next year it
will look even better.

I felt everything went very well especially the competition. I
believe the coaches are learning the game thus transferring that
knowledge onto their players. I watched a U13 Boys match I believe
the team name was Magic Santos, the coach did a magnificent job
instructing his players and making the appropriate adjustments to
overcome a very good opponent. I learned a lot from watching him.

The refereeing was not the greatest but much better than the first
national championship I attended in Las Vegas. I have not attended
the championship every year since my teams have not always
qualified. But I have attended every year that they have qualified
and have seen a tremendous improvement in the overall organizational
structure to include referees. I did hear that several At-Large
teams were not accepted into the competition. That just shows US
Futsal's growth and the importance of doing well at the regional
competition.

I am personally very excited about the growth of Futsal and what US
Futsal has been able to accomplish over the past several years with
very little funding. There was not a big time sponsor at the
national championship like USYS and US Soccer have for all of their
events. I guess that's because the sport is still new and growing.
I did hear that a huge sponsor was getting ready to sign a lucrative
deal with US Futsal that would propel them in the direction they
vision themselves going. I hope that means their own national
teams?

I know that US Futsal and US Soccer have not seen eye to eye. But I
honestly see this as a good thing for the sport. I have seen US
Soccer destroy the youth game. US Futsal is doing just the
opposite. The kids love this game and US Futsal appear to be all
about the youth development and ensuring that they have fun without
getting politics involved. I'm sure they are dealing with a
tremendous amount of internal political struggles with US Soccer and
even FIFA but that struggle has not diminished the passion of the
game or filtered down to the kids. I saw that at the national
championship. It was fantastic.

So to US Futsal I say keep up the good work and do not lose the
passion of the game. I just hope my team(s) qualify for the
national championship in Baltimore next July. I can't wait for
another great competitive futsal event.