Last weekend I was invited to attend a training camp with the Canadian National Futsal Team. This was a great opportunity for me and something that I was very excited about. The camp was held close to home for me, in Richmond, BC, at the Olympic Oval. This facility is fantastic, one of the nicest sports facilities I've ever seen.
The players were selected from all over Canada with varying levels of futsal experience. It was a short camp, only 3 days and a lot of information to take in. For most of us, playing futsal was a totally new experience and I have to say the CSA staff was excellent in what they taught us in such a short amount of time. This was the first camp for the National Futsal team in 2012, the camp was held in preparation for the 2012 Concacaf Futsal Qualifiers, where Canada has hopes of winning a spot at the FIFA Fusal World Cup Thailand 2012, which runs 2-18 November.
The amount the level of play increased from the first training session, to the end of the camp was huge. On Saturday night, they held a showcase game with the players from the East Vs the West. This was really fun to play in and a great way to create a realistic playing atmosphere for us. Overall, I learned a lot and really enjoyed the training camp. It was a great experience for me and I look forward to being a part of the player pool for this team in the future. I would recommend futsal as a great skill developer for any player. The game forces you to play quickly and learn to play under pressure in tight spaces. I would personally like to thank all the staff involved in making this camp a success and wish all the players I met all the best. Below is the camp roster, links about the camp & some pictures from the East Vs West Showcase game.
CANADA
GK- Roy Blanche | CAN / Brampton City United FC
GK- Vincent Cournoyer | CAN / Universite Laval
- Ian Bennett | USA / Milwaukee Wave
- Julio Cesar |
- Gordon Chin | CAN / Metro Ford Wolves
- Steve De_Blasio | CAN / Columbus FC
- Joe Di Buono |
- Steve Frazao | CAN / Columbus FC
- Timo Garzon | CAN / Sora Woodbridge Strikers
- Louis-Charles Laliberté | CAN / CSVR
- Giuliano Oliveiro | USA / Milwaukee Wave
- Jordan Ongaro | USA / San Diego State University
- John Pegg | USA / San Diego State University
- Jonathan Poli | CAN / Columbus FC
- Yannick Rome-Gosselin | CAN / Haut Richelieu Celtix
- Kyriakos Selaidopoulos | Unattached / sans club
- Leigh Sembaluk | CAN / Columbus FC
- Graham Smith | CAN / Columbus FC
- Robbie Tice | NOR / Kjelsås IL
- Alfredo Valente | CAN / Coquitlam Metro Ford SC
- Johan Vargas |
- Alvaro Yaques | CAN / Toronto Boca Junior Futsal
