Greater Rochester has its first and only futsal sports complex. Rochester Futsal Factory is now open in Henrietta.
Futsal is a fast-paced game that's played around the world. It's small-sided soccer of five on five played on indoor courts. Dustin Graupman, his wife Liz and kids played futsal in Cleveland and Baltimore. The Hilton CSD grads brought the love of the game to Rochester. They opened Rochester Futsal Factory on Mushroom Blvd. in October.
"It has been around a long time but not in the Western New York area, other than some people playing in gyms and churches," said Graupman. "The soccer ball is a little bit smaller. It is non-stop action. The play goes on and on constantly. It is four seconds out of bounds and you have to get the ball back in play. The ball doesn’t bounce as much so it is on people’s feet a lot longer. There’s a lot more passing and a lot more dribbling. The scores are higher. There are six times as many touches and four times as many shots and three times as many goals. It is a lot of action. We have games 12 to 10, 10 to eight so a lot of action in a 40-minute game.”
Maddie Oleksyn is a seventh-grader at Mercy High School. She started playing soccer at 4 years old and futsal a few years ago. She says she loves the fast-paced game.
“Futsal is basically mainly like soccer but you have to have better foot control because the ball is coming a lot faster," said Oleksyn. "Outdoor soccer is slower because it’s on grass, but here it is just like kind of like a gym floor so the ball is rolling so much faster.”
Rochester Futsal Factory has winter leagues, coach clinics, and tournament play.