The youth futsal league where we spend our Sundays during the cold Minneapolis winter.
Jenny and I can attest: it's not easy picking a name for your startup.
We waffled, hemmed, hawed and tested. We loved a name one day and hated it the next. We'd land on a few names and find that the .coms weren't available.
And then we really thought about it.
As we grew up, soccer was less than a blip; it was practically nonexistent. For those of us who were fanatics, this meant a couple things:
First, you couldn't find a game. Not on TV, not in the newspaper (remember those?), not in your neighborhood park.
Second, when you found someone who shared your love of the game, you were fast friends, irrespective of other good reasons. These people were oases in the desert and you embraced them.
Fast forward a few decades and it's fair to say that soccer has made it. I could cite sources on sources to confirm it but, if you're honest, you already know. And it's great! Our access to the game borders on ridiculous. Every day we are sated with an astounding amount of soccer content - on TV, online, through social media.
But there is a price we must pay for the glut. The soccer fanatics are no longer the only members of a small community. So, while we enjoy the spoils the mainstreaming provided, we've certainly lost a bit of the esprit de corps.
Enter futsal.
What we've experienced over the past 5-10 years with futsal feels very much like what we felt with soccer several decades ago. This is a tight, engaged, enthusiastic community.
So who are these people?
These are the people with whom we spend Sunday mornings while our kids take the court. These are the people I play with on Friday and Saturday nights (even if the food and drink often dominate). These are the people who coach futsal, administer futsal leagues, and generally support the growth of this great game.
And you. You're one of these people!
We're so thrilled to have you here. Thanks for being part of the Futsal Collective.