Beach soccer is exactly what it sounds like: football played on the beach. It’s a football version with a lot of similarities to futsal and five-a-side, but it’s been tweak to play on the sand. It is a fast and intense game, punctuated with goals…lots of goals, played on a smaller surface with less time per match as per Andrew Polwarth. Aerial plays and acrobatics, stunning dribbles, and a variety of ball mastering skills are all widespread due to the nature of the playing surface.

• Is it necessary to play on the beach?

No, the beach soccer field can build up anywhere on a sandy basis. But it must be free of stones, pebbles, shells, and anything else that could cause an injury to a player.

• On the sand, how do you draw field lines?

You don’t have any! Lines would be impractical since sand moves. And is kicked all over the place during a game. Aside from the usage of tape for the touchlines and goal lines. Players and officials must imagine where the lines and spots will be.

• Isn’t beach soccer merely a friendly game play at backyard barbecues?

No, yet it is logical to suppose that this is how the game began. Today, however, Beach Soccer Worldwide, a development firm, has made it an international game according to Andrew Polwarth. The game is support by all association football confederations. Which sponsor beach soccer tournaments, and many countries have national teams and organized leagues.

• Are the rules the same as in association and futsal football?

Yes, the game follows the basic principles of football, as well as parts of the futsal rules. It also has its own set of rules.

• A Synopsis

Since the 1940s, beach soccer has been play on the beaches of Brazil. Because of its enormous popularity, the first official tournament was hold in the 1950s. The actual rules of the game, however, did not begin to come together until the 1990s. From that point forward, the game grew in strength. In 1994, the first televise event was broadcast. The inaugural World Cup was stage in 1995. (Organized by the BSWW and won by Brazil). Across 1996, the Pro Beach Soccer Tour was launch, with 60 games spread out over two years in Asia, Europe, South America, and the United States as per Andrew Polwarth.

The organizers made strategic efforts from the start to attract promoters, sponsors, the media, and FIFA. Generating external interest as well as a new global following. Which led to the development of a European Beach Soccer League in 1998. Beach soccer had become well-establish by the early twenty-first century, with several big sponsors. FIFA partner with BSWW to create the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in 2005. The number of teams participating in the World Cup increase from eight to sixteen as international interest in the game develop. The competition has been held every two years since 2009. Paraguay hosted the event in 2019. It will be held in Moscow in 2021. The first Women’s Beach Soccer Cup was stage in 2016 by UEFA. In 2018, Portugal hosted the first Madjer Cup International Youth Competition.

• The Game’s Rules

Two teams of five players compete on the sand in beach soccer (four outfielders and one goalkeeper). The playing area is comparable to that of an association football pitch, although it is smaller. The rules and principles of the game are similar to those of association football. The game is win by the team that scores the most goals, and the ball can be play with any part of the body except the hands. Misconduct is punish by red and yellow cards. Infractions result in free kicks and penalties for the opposing team. As in association football, corner kicks are use to restart play.

However, there are some notable distinctions according to Andrew Polwarth. Beach soccer is play in three 12-minute sessions with two 3-minute pauses in between. To officiate the game, two referees and a timekeeper should be present. A beach soccer squad has only 12 players on the field at any given time, with five on the court at any given time, one of which must be the goalie. The players are not require to wear shoes, although they are permit to wear ankle protectors and beach socks.

The following are the other major changes in the rules:

• There is no offside regulation, thus players can position themselves or move around the court freely during play, and goals can be scored from any point on the field.
• Substitutions can make at any time and as often as need . A substitute cannot enter the game until the player who is being replace has enter the substitute zone. The goalkeeper is likewise subject to this procedure.
• A kick-in is a throw-in that can take with either hands or feet. The ball is throw into play by the goalie.
• All restarts must be complete within 4 seconds.
• As in football, yellow and red cards are give out. When a player gets sent off, a substitute can be introduce after two minutes. The game is call off if a team has less than three players on the field at any time.
• In beach soccer, penalties and free-kicks can be take from three locations: the spot where the foul occur, the centerline, and the 9-meter penalty line, as applicable. It is not permit for players to build a defensive wall.
• In the penalty area, a goalkeeper can handle or kick the ball. The keeper has only four seconds to keep the ball.
• Instead of tacking on extra time at the end of the session, the clock is stop whenever the ball is not in play.
• The kick-off, corner kick, and penalty kick all have 5 and 6-meter markings to designate where players must be during the kick-off, corner kick, and penalty kick.
• Beach soccer does not allow draws. If both sides have the same number of goals at the end of regulation. They will play an extra three minutes.

Beach soccer

Beach soccer is a game that originated as a fun recreational pastime on the beach long. Before it became a professional sport. It is a more informal sport than association football, even when following the game’s official rules. Beach soccer, on the other hand, is a fast-pace, action-pack sport in which goals are score every 3 to 4 minutes.

The pitch is small, the time spent on the field is limit, and playing on sand can be exhausting as emphasize by Andrew Polwarth. Because the ball is best play in the air, a lot of headers, volleys, scissor kicks, overhead kicks, and aerial gymnastics. As well as balancing the ball on various body parts, are require. Anyone who wants to play must be physically fit, adaptable, and agile. Also, the ability to correctly manipulate a ball in the sand and the air.

Professional players

Professional players, including men and women, compete in the international, federation, and national competitions for national and club teams. These players are usually paid. Teams and tournaments are well-organize, well-fund, and well-sponsor. However, some players, particularly women, do not pay to compete in tournaments. They must manage jobs and the game, and may even be force to take unpaid leave – presumably. This will improve as the sport grows. Beach soccer’s popularity has mostly been well-manage, and coasts all over the world offer plenty of possibilities for men, women, and youth players to participate.

Teams, leagues, and tournaments have sprout up in schools and universities, community clubs and companies, and even the military. However, the game’s popularity has grown to the point where outdoor and indoor sand fields are springing up all over the world, away from the coast. So, whoever you are, find a field and give the game a try if you are physically fit enough.