Photos by Sarah Bennett
On Saturday, Long Beach’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine celebrated the grand opening of the city’s first futsal courts which were installed on two former tennis courts at DeForest Park.
The installation of the courts was funded by a $61,500 grant from the U.S. Soccer Foundation with help from the nonprofit Partners and Parks. Bob Livingstone, contract manager for the city of Long Beach Parks and Recreation said that the availibilty of the grant, low cost to the city and the fact that residents were improvising their own courts made the grant an opportunity that they had to jump on.
“We knew that people liked to play [futsal],” Livingstone said. “I wouldn’t say that it’s a huge demand but people will do it if there is a facility and so we said, ‘This is a slamdunk.'”
Futsal is soccer-like game that originated in South America during the 1930s and 1940s. It’s played indoors or outdoors on a smaller, harder surface with a smaller ball that places an emphasis on improvisation and creativity. The skills built through playing futsal translate well to the soccer field. The grant installed the first two game-ready futsal courts, complete with official sport flooring, in the city of Long Beach.
“Futsal is a fast-paced variant of soccer that is rapidly becoming more popular in Long Beach and around the world,” Mayor Bob Foster said in a press release. “I’m pleased that we are able to provide a venue for the community to enjoy this exciting sport.”
The Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine is looking into the possibility of running a futsal league out of the new courts, but until then, they are open and available for public use during park hours, which through Labor Day are 10AM to 6PM. After Labor Day, Fall park hours are 3PM to 6PM.
Closeup of the official futsal flooring.
DeForest Park runs parallel to the 710 freeway and is located at 6255 DeForest Avenue. Along with futsal courts, the park also offers a variety of sports facilities including two remaining tennis courts, a community center, nature trails and youth recreation and adult classes.
{FG_GEOMAP [33.867731,-118.1916013] FG_GEOMAP}