Marquinhos Xavier discusses the founding of the Brazilian Futsal Coaches Association

Coach Marquinhos Xavier: “We lacked organization and commitment for the future in previous years, we were focused on the game and our careers, and this prevented Brazilian coaches from even having more markets outside of Brazil. I think this is the moment, as we have been plunged into a pandemic with many problems and the association could strengthen our work and that of future generations.”

On June 23^rd, 2020, the Brazilian Futsal Coaches Association (Associação Brasileira dos Treinadores de Futsal) was officially founded. The organization was launched to unite and represent the category of coaches, assistants, physical trainers, and goalkeeping coaches actively working in all categories (initiation, training, and high performance) to open the professional market, advising its members and promoting the sharing of academic and cultural knowledge through futsal.

The elected board is composed of coach Marquinhos Xavier, as President, coaches Paulinho Gambier as Administrative Director, and Edgar Baldasso as Chief Financial Officer. The associated coaches, Nei Victor, Paulinho Sananduva, and Lucas Chioro, were elected to make up the Supervisory Board, an autonomous and independent supervisory body of ABTFS. In addition, the Association has the services of a sports lawyer and sports manager, Dr. Roberto Pugliese Jr., to act as Executive Director.

According to coach Marquinhos Xavier, the goal is to work for the enhancement of Brazilian futsal. “Through ATBFS we can contribute to strengthening the sport, facing problems, and creating opportunities for members. Our goal is to support those who work in the futsal industry”, he commented.

Marquinhos Xavier

On the 31st of August and the 1st of September, the 1st Conference of the Brazilian Association of Futsal Coaches will take place, which will be broadcast on the Association’s channel on Youtube, an opportunity in which ABTFS will be publicly presented and issues relevant to the sport and of interest to coaches and trainers will be discussed. Futsal Focus (FF) reached out to coach Marquinhos Xavier to discuss the founding of the organization further.

FF: Futsal has been played in Brazil for a long time, why is an organization like this just being launched now, and why do you think it is the right time for it?

M: We lacked organization and commitment for the future in previous years, we were focused on the game and our careers, and this prevented Brazilian coaches from even having more markets outside of Brazil. I think this is the moment, as we have been plunged into a pandemic with many problems and the association could strengthen our work and that of future generations. We cannot think about today, at the present moment because it is a reflection of what we did not do in the past, we need to think about delivering a better future for futsal and our coaches.

FF: You mentioned that the organization will look to strengthen the sport, facing down problems, and creating opportunities. Can you give examples for each one so readers can get an idea of what you mean?

M: ABTFS will seek recognition of the coaching profession in Brazil, we will create a committee that will deal exclusively with that. We need to be recognized as professional coaches like in football. We will act strongly in relation to qualifications and training of our coaches, and the most important thing is to organize the training content because futsal in Brazil is in all areas, social projects, NGOs, school futsal, university, clubs, sports schools, training of athletes and in high performance. We need to address all areas for the good of the game and its development.

FF: How do interested coaches/ trainers join the organization, do they have to pay a membership fee and what do they get for joining?

M: We will do our work with all coaches who are willing to collaborate, the membership fee will maintain the association, legal support, and events such as seminars and congresses which will be promoted by ABTFS and this will come out of this fund generated by the membership fees. In addition to these benefits, the biggest of all is the feeling of belonging to a class that is abandoned, and that needs to be strengthened by coming together and working together in the interest of futsal.

FF: You have a conference planned for the end of the month, why should coaches watch it?

M: To find out what we really want, our proposals and especially so that they know what the guidelines of this project will be. We will have great professionals talking about the important issues of our sport and our profession.

FF: Is this organization focused only on Brazil or do you plan to bring leadership beyond Brazil as well? If yes, what can internationals learn from your organization?

M: Initially our activities will be in Brazil, we need to start the process by strengthening Brazilian Futsal, but it will also cover our coaches who are outside the country. Of course, we will have a connection with entities that wanted to be part of this project in Brazil and worldwide.

FF: Marcos Sorato posted recently that Brazilian futsal coaching qualifications are not recognized abroad, is this an issue your organization plan to face? And, how can you help Brazilian coaches working abroad?

M: We do have many problems with regard to the recognition of our training in Brazil, we are the only country in the world where coaches must undergo a degree in Physical Education, this means that we have a much higher basic training than many countries. But, this is not recognized and our job will be to pressure the futsal entities in Brazil to seek these answers.

FF: What are the main challenges facing Brazilian futsal that your organization plans to address?

M: The biggest challenge is to start the whole process, people in Brazil and in the world think that things arise today and that all the problems of the past and present are resolved tomorrow, this is not how it works in practice. Our challenge then is to make things work, to set up ABTFS processes so that it is not just a founded association, but a reference for our professionals. We will work hard for this.

To learn more about the Brazilian Association of Futsal Coaches, access their official channels:

https://instagram.com/abtfs_brasil

https://www.facebook.com/AbtfsBrasil/

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