Futsal Focus: Jenna Kiely

Jenna Kiely of Kettering Futsal Club, who plays eleven-a-side for Thrapston Town and coordinates a Futsal Fives league, describes the format from a player’s perspective. Her side play a month-long league against Corby, Northampton and Kingsthorpe at Kettering Leisure Village and have finished third overall, having placed third and second in earlier tournaments. Futsal is high intensity and demands good fitness, quick rather than necessarily skilful feet, sharp decision-making and the ability to recover, track back and pass a range; substitutions are fast and constant and formations are more zonal. Some of her players were unsure they would like it and now cannot get enough. She argues strongly that England should have a women’s futsal team, noting that many women drop out of football and futsal offers a way to continue.