The 2024 Class Council hosted a futsal tournament for Jefferson’s soccer players to compete during lunch. The games began on Jan. 29, with at least 2 games going on per day until finals on Feb. 9. The tournament was single elimination, meaning that with a single loss, a team would be out.
Futsal is an indoor form of soccer where the size of a normal soccer pitch is reduced to the size of a basketball court. Almost all soccer rules are the same in futsal, except that when the ball goes out, players kick it back in instead of throwing it. Team sizes can vary, and the Jefferson tournament had teams of three versus three in a fifteen-minute time frame. The idea had been developing ever since 2024 treasurer Ethan King proposed it in his election speech.
“I came up with the idea for futsal because I’ve played soccer for as long as I can remember, and I’ve always thought that soccer would work in a lunch tournament style, especially considering how many people are diehard soccer fans at school,” King said.
Putting together all of the elements for a new tournament took the efforts of several people.
“Futsal has never been done before and trying something new can always be a little risky. Regardless, we decided to go forward with it, hoping that it would catch on and I am happy to say it did,” 2024 Class Council secretary Jai Agarwal said.
The futsal tournament drew attention from Jefferson soccer team captains looking for practice before the season and they encourage soccer-interested students to try it next year.
“Playing in the futsal tournament prepares players for the actual season. We try to spot good players that have potential,” senior and Jefferson boys soccer team captain Mackinley Pan said.
Preparation for the season was a theme reflected by both captains.
“I would have loved to see more girls participate and give them tryout information if they didn’t already have it,” senior and girls soccer captain Aurora Zary said. “Any practice is good practice.”
Juniors Anna Chau, Lawrence Aguda, and Derek DeConti, otherwise known as “Golden Oreo,” went undefeated for the 5 games they played.
“It felt pretty cool to win the tournament because of all the excitement around the event, but I would definitely say that it was lots more fun to actually play the games,” junior Derek DeConti said. “The final was a great experience so it was nice to win it but to me the tournament was more so about just having fun and playing with my friends.”
![Freshman Nicholas Artiedamarin practices around with a soccer ball. Soccer is a sport that relies heavily on teamwork and coordination, a characteristic that makes it enjoyable to many players. “I feel like it’s [soccer] a fun sport,” freshman Rachit Ravali said, “and it’s interesting to play. You need to be able to work as a team player.”](https://www.tjtoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_9940-475x317.jpg)
