STRIDES are being made to promote a different type of football.

Futsal, a type of five-a-side, is played on a smaller, indoor pitch with a smaller, less bouncy ball and is geared towards creating a more technical, skilful brand of the beautiful game.

It is a sport that Brighton and Hove Albion futsal player and youth coach Billy Pout thinks has “endless, massive potential”.

Mr Pout has graduated from the club’s Albion In The Community (AITC) futsal scholarship and now coaches on the same course.

Also an 11-a-side footballer for Seaford Town, he enrolled on the course in 2012 and said futsal had benefitted many elements of his game including fitness and technical ability on the ball.

The 19-year-old said: “Since I’ve been playing futsal it’s helped me get good on the ball, get quicker and now my manager feels like I’m wasted in defence.”

“It’s easy to run around for 90 minutes on a football pitch, but with futsal you’re only on for three or four minutes at a time. It’s 100 miles an hour and you’re always on the ball.”

Mr Pout summed up the sheer intensity of the game by explaining that to replicate futsal conditions on a normal football field, it would have to be 32-a-side.

As well as appearing for Brighton, he has been selected for the England national futsal team.

He described his experience of the international scene as “one of the best things I’ve done in my sporting career”.

Mr Pout identified one of the most profound differences in futsal as being the speed of thought required by coaches, as “if you don’t make a decision there and then, you could cost your team a goal”.

He was also full of praise for coach Owen Fisher, who he now works alongside, and tutor Hayley Funnell who nurtured his talents during his time on the course.

It was this, combined with AITC’s facilities, that converted his ambitions from coaching football to futsal.

Speaking about his vision for the future and appreciation of AITC, he said: “I want to be part of it as it’s getting bigger.

“I wouldn’t say there’s many better places to work than in the American Express Community Stadium, wearing the club badge, getting to go and watch the games.

Fact file

  • Originating in Brazil and Uruguay in the 1930s and 40s and meaning hall football in Portuguese, futsal is a sport long associated with Latin flare.
  • Ever since, it has spread to most corners of the world but it has traditionally remained the preserve of Latin America and continental Europe.
  • It is, however, growing apace in England both as a football training aid and as a competitive sport in its own right.
  • Just last month, the FA announced that 32 youth leagues around the country would be changing their winter programmes to offer 12,000 boys and girls the opportunity to play futsal.
  • Not only does this represent a progressive solution to countless weather-affected game cancellations, it could provide this country with a whole new generation of futsal players.