Jamie's futsal experience

2014. This was the year that I kicked my first futsal ball.  I was hooked.  

I have played football from a young age.  Sunday leagues, playing for my school.  I loved it.  Then futsal came along.  

For those who are unaware, it is a 5-aside game, played indoors.  It’s played with a smaller, heavier ball that doesn’t bounce as much, so the ball is on the ground more often - thus a more technical game and much quicker than football.  

Games are 40 minutes long with players brought on and off in quick succession.  The style of the game is similar to basketball, due to the fast pace.  

I joined Profutsal London when I was 15.  We trained twice a week and played games on a Sunday all over the city in youth tournaments.  

In 2015, when I was 16, I was lucky enough to be picked for the 2015 European Maccabiah Games which were held in Berlin, Germany.  It was such an unbelievable experience, from the Opening Ceremony, to the group games against Spain, South Africa and Turkey.  

The pride I felt when asked to captain one of the games was second to none. It was so exciting. My family had all come out to support me.  We made it through to the final, where we played Turkey.  It felt like the longest 40 minutes of my life, but we won! I was so proud when the gold medal was put around my neck.  

Since then, I have progressed from youth to first team level.

Last season, I played in the semi-finals of the FA Cup at St George’s Park. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to win the game, but the experience was amazing.  St George’s Park is the home of English football and futsal, so to play there is something that not everybody gets to experience, and I am extremely grateful for this.

At 20 I decided a new challenge was in order however.  I left there to join London Escolla as they pride themselves on youth development and have a long-term project for progressing players.  We were having a very successful season, still going strong in the FA Cup and leading the race in a highly competitive league.  This obviously came to an abrupt halt due to Covid-19.

My aspirations for the coming season is to play in the top tier of the country and to fight my way into the England set-up - no easy task.