This discipline that mixes football and table tennis expands in Catalunya | Barcelona players like Neymar and Xavi Hernandez have pleaded sport buffs helps improve technique
Futtoc BCN
-of Toc- touch football in Catalan. That is the ‘etymological’ Futtoc origin, a sport that was born in Barcelona almost a decade ago, but in recent years is growing and is expanding Catalonia and other regions, even internationally.
This discipline is a mix between football and table tennis and have a clear urban vocation, considering that one of the objectives of its promoters is to “encourage the kids play in the street, as before, something that has been lost with the advent of new technologies, “said Ildefonso Fernandez, creator of Futtoc with Joan Cano. We are talking about a dynamic, fun sport and allows, in turn, that football players can improve their technique. So much so that as emblems Neymar Barca and Xavi Hernandez have become true fans of this practice and even have a game table in their respective houses. “Since playing Neymar scores the most goals this, ‘says Cano.
The Futtoc combines football and table tennis but, of course, has its peculiarities. Use an oval table very similar to tennis and players, over the network, they are to passing a soccer ball made of a lighter material. You can play alone or in pairs, it is governed by rules very similar to table tennis -in terms of score and saque- and the ball can move to the opponent’s court with any part of the body except hands as in football. Participants also can climb up the table to finish with greater determination. All this makes the Futtoc is a “very funny, explosive and suitable for all ages” sport.
Outdoor Activities
He was born and about eight years ago, on the street, and it has not lost this vocation. “Toto [Ildefonso] and I are friends since childhood. Many days we would Montjuïc to play football and we used a fence of which there are in the works to spend, as an exercise to improve the technique with the ball. One day he disappeared and That’s when we started to do the same with a pingpong table and saw that aguantábamos the ball, “explains Joan Cano. “That could be a feasible idea if you changed the design of the table and contacted a company of Mataro, which is that still made today,” he adds. Thus Futtoc originated in Catalonia, a sport that is already present in the city of Barcelona Montjuïc and Glòries–in and at some points Maresme and Girona Bages and, as a novelty, just landed on the Costa Dorada . Outside Catalonia and tables were installed in Cantabria and Valencia and even can be found in the United States, Argentina, Dubai and Japan.
Its proponents emphasize the benefits offered Futtoc and, above all, the fact of practicing sport outdoors. “We were and are a football fans and we went out to play in the street. It has almost lost because many prefer to play consoles and stay home. Interact and socialize has been on the back burner and would like to contribute even modestly to change this habit generating interest among young people, “says Cano. “For us it is most important and therefore we call us and where there is interest”, says Ildefonso Fernandez, for whom the Futtoc is “enjoy, share and compete wanting the ball”. And is that regardless of the outreach activities and expansion, from the International Association collaborate with different foundations to boost social action through sport on the street, to assist the social integration of young people and they see it “an alternative the most negative dynamics linked disadvantaged neighborhoods. ”
International expansion
The practice is growing and has several projects in the pipeline. One of the challenges is to have a lighter and cheaper table which currently manufactures, fiberglass and designed to be exposed in public, for which it is subjected to a corrosion-resistant treatment to acts vandalism. “We look for something that you can take to the beach or to place it so that Futtoc practice more accessible and convenient,” explains Joan Cano, recalling that reach new municipalities remains the priority. “Happy to go where they call us,” he adds.
The launch of these new low cost tables is scheduled for later this year and already have several orders for the US, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, UK and France. During 2016 they expect to submit the approved model Futtoc ball.
First incursión to Costa Daurada
The last Futtoc remarkable achievement has been to reach the Costa Daurada, specifically Vandellòs Hospitalet de l’Infant. The Tarragona town has bought two tables installed in front of the skatepark and next to the multisports court is in the Playa del Arenal. On May 9th the two creators of sports participated in a conference to publicize it and was “a great success of participation,” said the Councillor for Sports, Pilar Morales. “Four years we work for sports destination and do not stop to look for things to promote physical activity, especially outdoors ago,” he says, adding that the will of the council is to expand the number of tables “if we hope arouses interest and we detect among boys and girls who tried it the other day. ” In addition, the City Council has installed four table tennis tables in different areas of the municipality.
Futtoc Barcelona
