A new futsal team for Rachel Carson Middle School was formed on April 12, and it is a futsal team, NOT a soccer team.

Futsal is a different sport from soccer although it is very similar. Futsal has the same rules as soccer, but it is a smaller field and there are less players.

One of the coaches, Mr. Bolt, commented, “I decided to coach because I grew up around soccer, I coached my daughters when they played soccer,” said Mr. Bolt, “and as a coach, I really like to see kids improving and improving their soccer skills.”

The coaches of the team are Mr. Bolt, RCMS engineering teacher, and Mr. Hernandez, RCMS math teacher for the seventh-grade All-stars team. They are both very confident in the team and the players.

Mr. Hernandez said, “I love soccer, and futsal is a similar sport to soccer,” he said. “I also grew up playing soccer and I love to watch it on TV.”

The full list of the players is: Lucio Meheux, Kodjo Gounongbe, Dashawn Paige, Alex Cortez, Terra Nagai, Joshua Lowe, Justin Batres, Max Isidro and Ramsey Omara.

“I think we have a good chance at going to the final round,” Mr.Bolt said, “and we have lots of talented players.”

The RCMS futsal team’s first game was at Lanier Middle School on May 4. There are four teams in the league, so all RCMS has to do to get to the Championship is win one game.

Some soccer players, like Eduardo Pitanga, that go to RCMS haven’t played for the team. Eduardo said “I’ve been playing  soccer since I was 2 years old,” he said, “ and I didn’t try out for the team.”

This may be because players like Eduardo play on different teams so they do not have time for the RCMS practices. Some of them play on premier teams like FC Virginia or FC Barcelona youth academy.

For the most part, Fairfax county does not have middle school sports teams, much less soccer teams. That’s why futsal is a great opportunity for kids to play a soccer-like sport with their peers. Not all FCPS schools have futsal teams.

“Futsal is mostly played indoors,” said Mr. Bolt. “That’s why there are much less players.”

Since futsal is mostly played indoors, the field is smaller, so all 22 players can’t be on the same field at once. There are only five positions in futsal so there are 10 players on the field at once. This has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that you get the ball more and you get to run less. The disadvantages are that it’s harder to score, and you also have less teammates to help you out.

It is very important to play aggressively in futsal, since the field is smaller the players are up tight against each other and to get the ball you have to be willing to fight for it.

Mr. Hernandez said, “They are a great team and the play really aggressive.They always want to do their best even if they are down.”