Waikato University student tasked with making futsal popular

6 March 2012

Waikato University student tasked with making futsal popular

University of Waikato Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar and New Zealand Futsal White Brayden Lissington has been given a tough task; make futsal popular in the Waikato.

Waikato Bay of Plenty Football has recently employed Brayden as the Futsal Development Officer, and tasked him with finding players and starting a league in Hamilton.

Futsal is a five-aside game similar to football but played with a low bounce ball, on a basketball sized court, without rebound walls or nets. It is a game that combines creativity, speed, technique, teamwork and quick thinking.

Futsal is the only FIFA and NZ Football approved version of indoor football and the world’s fastest growing indoor sport.

“In New Zealand futsal has been going for a while, but my job is to get futsal started and a league going in the Waikato,” says Brayden.

“At the moment I’m targeting all the heads of football in secondary schools, marketing futsal as a great way for young players to develop their skills.”

Brayden has been holding sessions with developing football players around the Waikato and Bay of Plenty to try and entice them to the faster paced version of the game.

“Futsal is everything you love about football and more. It is fast paced, high scoring, and the ultimate opportunity to express yourself. It promotes individual ball skills, one-touch passing, off-the-ball movement, and creativity,” says Brayden, who is in his second year as a Hillary scholar.

Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarships are the University of Waikato’s most prestigious scholarships and are awarded to students who are high academic achievers and excel in the arts or sport. Scholars have their course fees covered, receive specialist coaching and mentoring and take part in personal development and leadership programmes.

ENDS

© Scoop Media