More than 150 student-athletes will be in Lac La Biche over the February 10 weekend, playing futsal in the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference North Regional Qualifier.
Ten teams from five post-secondary schools across northern Alberta — including the host-team Portage College Voyageurs — will be at the Bold Center, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, competing for a spot at the ACAC Futsal Championships that will take place in March.
Futsal is five-on-five indoor soccer played on a court that is almost twice the area of a basketball court — but smaller than an indoor soccer pitch. Futsal is a fast-paced game, with players substituting in like a hockey line change. The game runs over two-25 minute halves. Futsal is usually played with a soccer ball that is slightly smaller, but heavier than a standard size 5 ball, and futsal players shoot at nets that are narrower and lower than standard soccer goalposts. The indoor pitch for a futsal game is not bordered by walls or nets to keep the ball in play, using only marked lines on the court floor.
Futsal is also something the Portage College men's and women's teams are quite good at.
"Last season, the Voyageur men's team qualified for the ACAC championships — so we are looking to build on that," said Portage College Athletics Manager Jim Knight.
Teams playing on the Bold Center courts for the qualifiers will include NAIT, King's College, Keyano, Lakleland College and Grande Prairie's Northwest Polytechnic. The top three teams on the men's side, and the top three team's from the women's will advance to the finals that will be hosted by Keyano College in March.
Each team will play five games over the weekend. The Voyageurs men's team will open the weekend with a game against Kings College at 6 pm on Friday. The Voyageur women's squad plays Kings the same night at 8:30 pm. Games will run through the weekend, with the last tilt starting on Sunday at 3 pm between the Voyageur men and NAIT. A full schedule of the weekend games can be found on the ACAC website or the Portage Voyageurs website.
"It will be our first chance to see everybody — We have some good talent on our teams, so we're expecting some really good games," Knight said, encouraging community members to come out and cheer on the teams. "It's something different. It's a fast-paced game that many people might not have seen before."
Games start Friday night
The weekend qualifiers for the 2023 championships come after weeks of practice for the Portage teams.
"We began practicing back in November," said Knight, explaining that there has been no league play for futsal among ACAC teams, only a few "friendlies" for a few of the teams — but nothing for the Voyageurs.
"Last year, we hosted two regional events with Lakeland College and Keyano College — but this year we will only have the regionals," said Knight.
Admission to the weekend games is free. Games will be played in both fieldhouses at the Bold Center.
Community boost
With 150 visiting athletes, team staff and fans, the community will also likely see some new faces.
"It's a great opportunity for our community to play host to teams from five out-of-the-area schools. It's good for them to see what we offer," said Knight, calling it a win-win.
If the Voyageurs win, they will be heading up the highway to Keyano for the ACAC championships from March 10 to 12.
Teams in the ACAC southern futsal conference will wrap up their league play on February 25 top determine their top-three championship contenders.
