SETAGAYA SOCIETY
"SETAGAYA SOCIETY" is personal-participation-style futsal (5-a-side
indoor football), held in gymnasiums of elementary or junior high schools
in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. Even if you like to play football/futsal on weekdays,
it is not easy to get your friends together and/or find other parties to
play together. However, you can just join us alone. What you need to do
is to come to a gymnasium alone (with your cloths & indoor shoes) and
follow some rules (rules of futsal as well as other rules/manners when
using public gymnasiums). Then you can enjoy playing futsal games. Every
time, about 15-25 person are enjoying futsal games with this system.
The price is just @JPY100 per person/time. It is held 2 or 3 times a month
(mainly on Tuesday and Wednesday, 18:30-21:00). The details (name, address,
etc.) of the gymnasium are not announced on this web page for some reasons.
If you have an interest, please apply for it by sending e-mail (stating
your full name, phone no. & e-mail address) to me, Yasu Watanabe. Upon receipt, I will promptly send you back e-mail showing the detail
of the location, schedule, etc.
Since it is held at gymnasiums of public elementary/junior high schools,
you need to follow the following rules:
1.) Sole of your shoes should be flat (without projections), and colour
of sole should be natural rubber colour or white (black one is prohibited).
Indoor shoes & futsal shoes are recommended.
2.) Eating/smoking is strictly prohibited in the gymnasiums. Drinking is
okay (except alcohol), but you need to bring back empty bottles/cans by
yourself.
3.) According to the FIFA futsal rule, shoulder charge and sliding tackle
are strictly prohibited. Pay very careful attention to avoid any injuries
(of you and other participants). Also note that some ladies & beginners
are also playing together. If you are very good/skilful player, please
try to make them pleasant (by sending nice passes, etc. Do not try to get
all goals by yourself!). At the same time, we welcome ladies, beginners
and over 30 years old players. (I am 40 years old.)
4.) We have several jobs at the gymnasiums (i.e. to put together/break up goals, clean/wipe the floor after using, close/open safety-nets and windows, etc., etc.). Such jobs should be done by all the participants (incl. me). This is not "business" and therefore I need your help.
5.) There is no parking space for participants at the schools/gymnasiums.
Please use parking space nearby, or come by train/bus/bicycle.
6.) Confirm location of toilet with me (or other participants) before using,
as there are some restrictions. There is no shower equipment at the gymnasiums.
7.) Follow my other instructions at the gymnasiums.
Please note that SETAGAYA SOCIETY is not run by schools nor Setagaya-ku,
but I rent gymnasiums and then run it personally. Thank you for your understanding
& cooperation in advance. I hope that I can play with a lot of people,
from many different countries. If you have any questions, please do not
hesitate to send me e-mail.
I have heard that in Brazil, each town has some smaller-sized fields for
football (artificial grass, clay or concrete) at the center of town or
along main streets, and many people are enjoying playing/watching football
there (kids in daytime and adults at night). Usually it is not formal match
between fixed teams, but people make extemporary teams and then enjoy the
games. Therefore it is called Futebol Society (=Social Football).
In Japan, top players/teams' football is improving very rapidly, but ordinary
people (especially living in big cities like Tokyo) still have great difficulty
to find opportunity to play football actually. I am one of ordinary people
but like playing football/futsal very much. And I want to offer such opportunities
to myself and other people. Therefore, this is not only for good players,
but also for ordinary people (incl. ladies and over 30 years old people).
Nowadays in Brazil, the Futebol Society is usually played with 7 vs. 7,
and there are special rules and nation-wide tournament. It is getting more
like a name of one of sports event (name of mini-football, played with
7 vs. 7 on artificial grass). However, the original meaning of Futebol
Society is "to come together and enjoy playing football". Therefore,
although what we are doing actually is Futsal (5-a-side indoor football,
whose rules are a little different from rules of Futebol Society/7), I
am still using "Society" name for this.