Futsal is now part of the club

Written on 19 January 2022. Posted in Futsal News.

Aylmer Soccer Club is pleased to share with you the vision of André Laurin, our technician responsible for the development of futsal.

How did you discover futsal?

André Laurin: It started when I was playing soccer at the college level from 2007 to 2009 at Collège La Cité. It was during the same year that I had my first experiences as a high school coach at Polyvalente Le Carrefour. My first two years, I coached the teams at Carrefour. Then, from 2012 to 2015 I participated in a project at Versant High School. That's when I realized I wanted to dive right into futsal.

Why develop futsal in Aylmer?

André Laurin: Because the Club wants to work with me and the potential for demographic expansion is interesting.

What does futsal bring to young soccer players?

André Laurin: Futsal is beneficial to the technical development of players. There are more ball touches and the field is smaller so decision making has to be faster. We are talking about an average of 5 times more balls touched than when playing outside. In addition, in Outaouais, the fact that we do not have covered soccer infrastructures in the west of the city does not allow us to play soccer all year long.

What does the association with an established soccer club bring to futsal?

André Laurin: This association brings added value to the youth development in Outaouais, it is a young and growing sport developing year after year. It also allows me to develop this project on a full time basis, because the club offers a structure allowing the development of futsal.

With a men's team in the Première ligue de futsal du Québec (PLFQ) and a women's team in regional competition, the two highest respective levels in the Outaouais region, what are the objectives for these teams?

André Laurin :For the men's team, the goal is to be as successful as possible in order to create opportunities and objectives for our youth such as joining the PLFQ team after high school. It is also to become the reference of futsal in Outaouais and in Quebec.

For the girls, it is to ensure sustainability and create a sense of belonging in order to develop and achieve high levels of performance. It is also important to promote women's sports.

What can you tell us about future projects related to futsal?

André Laurin :

For the girls, it is to have a team that returns, a reserve team and to make the jump in the PLFQ in Montreal within 3 to 5 years.
For the men's teams, it is to have the first team winning titles and to have a successful reserve team that supports the first team.
Finally, there is the creation of a juvenile futsal academy by setting up partnerships, but we will not reveal more for the moment.

Thank you, André, for taking the time to share with us your experiences and projects related to futsal.