The award to the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA for its schools' Futsal programme has come from UEFA, the sport's continental governing body.

Futsal is about improvisation, creativity and technique using a smaller ball than usual, with a reduced bounce which develops players' fundamental skills.

It encourages fast thinking play, silky skills, team work and close individual ball control and can be attributed to the development of world class players such as Brazilians Ronaldo, Deco, Pele and Ronaldinho.

The award certificate for the UEFA Best Grassroots Futsal Event was presented to football development officer Marc Birkett and chief executive James Hope-Gill by FA board member Dave Henson at the FA Umbro National Futsal Cup Final at English Institute for Sport in Attercliffe.

Marc said the award was a "great honour" and "testament to the hard work and dedication put in by everyone involved. "The Futsal Cup is just one element of a programme which promotes the game to schools that have never heard of it in South Yorkshire," he said.

"Every school that enters the competition is given a free taster session with our team of coaches.

"Everyone who takes part enjoys the session immensely and ultimately spreads the word for us."

Sheffield and Hallamshire FA have also been at the forefront of the game's development across the rest of the country, playing host to UEFA matches, international tournaments and FA Futsal final competitions.

Officials are in the process of persuading the FA to allow Sheffield to bid for the 2011 European Futsal Championships.



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