Football mad youngsters in Flintshire are following in the samba footsteps of Brazilian superstars Pele and Ronaldinho by learning the indoor five-a-side game, futsal.

Sport Flintshire and the Welsh Football Trust have been delivering futsal coaching to 14 schools in the county. The ultimate goal is to enter teams into a round robin competition at the Flintshire Festival of Youth Sport, which is supported by Airbus UK and the Sports Council for Wales, via the Welsh Assembly Government’s business incentive scheme - Sportsmatch Cymru. The festival takes place on Thursday 30 April and organisers are hoping to promote the long term sustainability of futsal in the area, with plans afoot to set up several junior leagues.

Futsal is played with hockey sized goals and a smaller ball with a reduced bounce, which creates an emphasis on improvisation, creativity and technique as well as ball control and passing in small spaces. The name 'futsal' comes from the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol sala, which roughly translates as ‘football hall’ or 'indoor football'.

The sport is exploding onto the football scene, with professional leagues sprouting up in Russia, Portugal, Italy, Argentina, Iran, Spain, and Brazil, the current World Champions. It has its roots in the streets and playgrounds of South America, where the game was first conceived some 80 years ago, originating in Uruguay and Brazil.

Indeed, many of Brazil’s global superstars have been graduates of the indoor game, including the likes of Pele, Rivelino, Zico, Denilson, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos.

Gareth Owen, Football Development Officer for Sport Flintshire and the Welsh Football Trust said:

"Futsal gives youngsters the chance to show off a bit and show what they can do. I always tell them that as a footballer if they can do a tenth of what Ronaldo does then you’re not doing bad. The coaching has been amazing because it’s all about an attacking point of view and encourages attackers to put the skills into practice and express themselves."

The futsal coaching sessions form part of the run up to the third annual Flintshire Festival of Youth Sport. The one day event takes place at Deeside College and will see around 1,500 youngsters participating in different events such as basketball, cheerleading, street dance, tri-golf, mountain biking, rugby, hockey, gymnastics. Organisers are expecting 242 kids to take part in the Futsal competition alone.

Sport Flintshire has offered all primary, specialist and secondary schools in Flintshire the opportunity to access coaching sessions in a number of sports delivered by qualified coaches recruited through the Sports Council for Wales’ Dragon Sport*, 5x60**,PESS*** (PE and School Sport) programmes and volunteer partnership initiatives with Deeside College and Glyndŵr University.

Schools can enter up to three teams at the festival to take part in each activity, with a view to encouraging them to continue developing their new found skills by participating in sport and physical recreation well into the future for a healthy adulthood.

Sport Flintshire Sports Development Manager, Sian Williams, said:

"We’re really excited about this year’s events and the wide variety of sports and activities we have on offer. We hope all the young people enjoy their chosen sports and continue to play them once the festival is over.

"We would also like to thank Airbus UK and the Sports Council for Wales for their continued support."

This year’s event has celebrity endorsement with planned visits from FLAVA, the dance crew from Britain’s Got Talent, and BB from ITV’s Britannia High. Support is also coming from the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets basketball team and ex-Liverpool and Wales international footballer, Ian Rush.