 League owner Ryan Knapp chose to begin his league with adults, drawing from a familiar base of 72 outdoor teams The conventional wisdom is to build from the base of the pyramid and work your way to the pinnacle. While that approach makes sense for many Super F League owners, Ryan Knapp had good reason for trying the opposite approach in Buffalo, N.Y. Knapp, 26, will launch Buffalo Futsal at two facilities in January, and for the first year at least his league will focus solely on adults. Knapp has court time for 34 teams, and thanks to his connections with Buffalo’s thriving outdoor adult program, he feels comfortable waiting to make the transition to youth teams. “I want to make sure I know how to run the league and make sure that I run it right,” said Knapp, who played soccer through high school and became a fan of futsal while living in Spain. “I want to make sure that I have all the kinks worked out before I begin doing youth.” Buffalo’s outdoor adult league has 72 teams at various skill levels. It’ll be a proving ground, Knapp says, to a league geared to the 30 youth clubs and 60,000 players involved with Buffalo and Western New York Junior Soccer. Knapp said his primary night for futsal – four hours and three courts on Fridays at Buffalo Niagara Court Center – is prime is prime time as far as adults and the competition go. Buffalo currently has no adult indoor soccer on Friday nights, nor is it a popular night for men’s basketball leagues. “I’d be very surprised if we didn’t (fill the 34 teams slots for futsal),” Knapp said. Buffalo is also fertile ground for futsal because of the city’s international flavor. In addition to being on the Canadian border – where futsal’s already popular – the city’s ethnic composition means that many adult players will already be familiar with the international indoor game. “That’s the cool thing about Buffalo,” said Knapp, who studied and then worked in Spain from 2006-07. “There are a lot of immigrants and international students, and it is fun to play (soccer in Buffalo) because the players flow and know where to go on the field.” That, Knapp said, will be a good fit in futsal, where the international style emphasizes rotations, fluid positions and shapes that encourage movement off the ball. Knapp has already had contact with Otto Orf, owner of the successful Cleveland Super F League, and has been approached by Toronto futsal promoter Kris Fernandes. It’s likely that the leagues will interact, Knapp said, with Buffalo already considering sending teams to Super F’s Great Lakes Regional in Cleveland in January. Orf originally had interest in operating a Super F League in Buffalo, since it’s where he went to college. But the distance between the cities made that impractical. Knapp believes his contacts in the soccer community – he plays in adult outdoor leagues and is the owner of FC Buffalo, the city’s entry in the National Premier Soccer League. FC Buffalo began play a year ago in a circuit of 27 teams in different regions of the country. FC Buffalo’s roster includes top players in the area, including talented pre-college students, as well as current and former college players. The team is likely to spawn futsal teams and provide coaching for the futsal skills programs Knapp forsees in the future. With the help of Super F League Development Director John Sciore, Knapp said that becoming a league owner was relatively simple. Sciore provided a copy of the Super F League Owners Manual, corresponded with Knapp by e-mail and answered the new owner’s questions in a lengthy phone conversation. “My overhead has been setting up my business and buying the Super F franchise,” Knapp said. The owner’s manual alone was well worth the $250 fee, he said. There’s currently one certified futsal referee in the Buffalo area and Knapp has been in contact with U.S. Soccer’s State Director of Instruction to offer a certification class for other officials. “There’s a good referee pool here and we have good outdoor refs in Buffalo,” Knapp said. Many of the candidates for certification are referees Knapp’s met through his participation in adult soccer. His long-range plan is to tap his contacts in youth soccer, then attend club board meetings to promote Buffalo Futsal. “I know someone in virtually every club,” said Knapp, who sees value in bringing the skill-developing virtues of futsal to Buffalo’s many youth players. “These kids don’t learn the skills and then they get to U-12 and they get beaten (by more skillful teams), get disenfranchised and quit soccer.” By incorporating futsal training with standard league play, Knapp said he hopes to change that. But for now, the emphasis is on the point of the triangle. Futsal World welcomes ideas for stories about Super F leagues, coaches, player, referees and futsal training techniques. Contact the editor at dknopf@kc.rr.com with your suggestions.
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