BRINGING THE SOUTH AMERICAN SUNSHINE TO LEYTON – VIA UKRAINE!

SCORE Press Release: Tuesday 1 September 2009

BRINGING THE SOUTH AMERICAN SUNSHINE TO LEYTON – VIA UKRAINE!
The Brazilian game of Futsal is live and kicking in east London.

Leyton – London: SCORE - the sports club and community facility with a difference in the heart of London’s East End now adds another sport to its never-ending list of activities - the sport that the likes of Ronaldo, Denilson and Roberto Carlos all grew up playing – Futsal.

A close cousin of the five-a-side game, Futsal (‘Futebol de Sala’) is played indoor with a weighted ball to reduce bounce and aims to improve close ball skills through an increased number of touches during the game, whilst players are nearly always placed in reduced space situations and are constantly forced to make decisions demanding speed of thought and quick reflexes.

Futsal is a worldwide sport, with a FIFA World Cup and UEFA Futsal Cup alongside the annual FA Futsal Cup and FA Futsal leagues.

The man responsible for bringing Futsal to SCORE - home to the only FA-approved Futsal court in London - is Oleksandr Saliy, a 35-year-old Ukrainian who moved to England ten years ago and who now runs the ‘Futsal Super League’ at the Leyton venue with a new league starting on September 6th.

The Futsal Super League, now in its seventh championship will then run every Sunday from 12pm – 6pm with all teams welcome, including an adult league (16+) and youth league (U16).

Alex, as he is known, founded White Bear Futsal Club, a team set up in Hackney back in 2003 alongside other social activities that he was organising for people from the Russian-speaking minorities of former USSR countries such as Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Estonia who were living in England.

Over the years White Bear have become extremely successful in the Futsal structure, winning the FA National Futsal Finals in Sheffield in 2004 and playing in UEFA events abroad.

The team enjoyed this success largely due to the fact that its players had grown up playing the indoor game in their homeland.

“Every school in what is now Ukraine had large-sized sports halls which were perfect for Futsal,” explained Alex.

“During the winter playing sports indoors was a necessity due to the weather conditions. Therefore ‘mini football’ as we knew it was extremely popular and a sport that all young people played.”

White Bear FC moved to SCORE in 2008 as it was an easier location to reach and it had a much larger profile - located next door to a professional football club; Leyton Orient FC.

Thanks to part funding in the past from the Russian Embassy in London and discounted courts at SCORE, Saliy has been able to further build the game of Futsal in England and in the future he believes it can be marketable to all in its traditional manner and hopes to have home-grown talent in his team.

“My aim is to bring more English players through as well as develop a youth league,” he said.

“Futsal in England is just at the development stage but I think there are lots of skilful English players. What we need to do is point these guys in the right direction.

“We tend to recruit a lot of players from the Power League and Goals five-a-side leagues and sometimes even off the street!

“We explain to them how the pathway to the English National Futsal Team works – we have had players picked from the league represent England before and there is no reason why this can’t happen again.”

Finding qualified officials for the league isn’t a problem either as Alex himself is not only a fully-qualified Futsal referee and referee trainer but also a National List Assistant Referee here in England.

“When I was growing up in what is now Ukraine playing football I always looked up to the Ukrainian referees and thought that I would like to do it – so I did.”

After refereeing for many years in the Ukrainian league, officiating the likes of Dynamo Kiev and stars such as Andriy Shevchenko, Oleg Luzhny and Sergei Rebrov, Alex moved to England and didn’t want to hang up the whistle just yet.

However, despite his standard of refereeing in his homeland, Alex had to start from the bottom again, but worked his way on to the National List as an Assistant Referee with his first fixture in the Football League at Wycombe Wanderers in December 2006.

“It was a big surprise for me to get the letter halfway through the 2006/07 season to say that I would be running the line in the Football League – it was one of the greatest moments of my life. I read it three times before I believed it!”

Alex has worked twice at Orient as the Fourth Official, but his most high-profile fixture to date was running the line at Reading v Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship last year, with the teams at that time first and second in the league table.

But even though the level was as high as he could get outside of the Premier League – he had to treat it the same as any other match.

“I was very proud that the Football League trusted me with the Reading v Wolves game, but whether it’s Championship, League 1 or League 2, every game for me is important. If you want to reach the Select Group [the Premier League referees and assistants] you have to perform to your best every game.’’

As one of two Russian-speaking officials on the National List alongside Slovakian-born Sasa Iringhova, running the line in England has proved an interesting experience for Alex, but having to start from the bottom up is an experience he is keen to share with any potential officials from Ukraine thinking of following in his footsteps.

“I know how difficult it is to be promoted in this country and there might be some referees who will expect to go straight in at the Football League level – but this isn’t the case; it’s really, really hard to get on the list.

“I started refereeing at local league here, and then moved to the Essex and Hertfordshire League before moving to be an Assistant Referee in the Ryman League, which was a strange experience for as I was only ever refereeing in the Ukraine.

“However, England has been great for me – everyone here likes a Russian Linesman! Seriously though, I do feel a responsibility as I am representing not just myself and my family, but my country and region too.

“I feel immense pride in my work here in England and love the country. I even supported England when I was younger and used to love watching Gary Lineker, Peter Beardsley and Paul Gascoigne.

“Our children were born here and I have lived here so long that I am at least half English! This country taught me how if you want to reach something in your life then you can be strong and gain it.”

So Futsal; a game that is still new to a lot of people but has become one of the fast growing sports in England and although no English team is yet to get past the preliminary rounds of the UEFA Futsal Cup, there is optimism yet.

Through the drive and determination of people like Alex and others, it is safe to say that Futsal will have a bright future in England.

For more information on Futsal, White Bear Futsal Club or the activities SCORE can offer you call 020 8556 5973 or email neil.brown@locsp.org.