UPTOWNflavor

Futbol, football or soccer, no matter what it is called there is no denying that the sport is an international favorite.  When you consider the number of Harlem residents who represent the parts of the world where soccer is the number one game of choice, you might think that soccer is also the number one game played in Harlem;  It soon could be.

Irv Smalls, Jr., a former Penn State football player, has been scouting locations in West Harlem for use as futsal fields.  Futsal, you ask?  Futsal is a variation of traditional soccer that doesn’t demand the same space requirements as traditional soccer.

Futsal is typically played indoors but Smalls is looking to convert handball fields, abandoned lots and public housing courtyards into play space.This is great for a community like Harlem, where space is at a premium. According the the United States Futsal Federation, “Futsal is played on a basketball-size court.  It can be played on a variety of surfaces.  The game does not require the use of expensive dasher board – walls, as do other versions of indoor soccer.”

Smalls, who is the executive director of FC Harlem Academy, is proposing a project called Concrete2Green.

“He would like to lay rubberized mats, painted with futsal lines. over such areas around the neighborhood. He envisions a culture of gritty pickup street soccer, much like the culture that exists around basketball.”

Read more about it in the NY Times [NYT]