May 20, 2023
Year One Complete: Warriors Establish a Foundation
By Francisco Claudio
Don't turn your head away or get distracted by your phone, because you could easily miss some of the action that is going down on the court.
Futsal is so quick and has a sense of controlled chaos that makes it exciting to watch for the quick 60 minutes that a game lasts.
And now the Westcliff men's futsal team has successfully completed its first year of competition and finished with a respectable record of 8-3-1.
It was always going to be a long journey for this program as they try to lay down the bricks and build a strong foundation towards something bigger as the sport evolves in this country.
"Since Futsal is not an NAIA-sanctioned sport, we are the pipers of this sport and the plan for this year was to present this sport first and then our team to college and futsal communities," said Head Coach Ivan Todorovic.
There is a lot of belief that this sport is going to become one of the most popular to watch in the next couple of years and Westcliff took the initiative to be one of the first collegiate futsal programs in the country.
"What separates this team from the others is professionalism in every possible way representing not only the school but the big project and the idea of bringing futsal to the colleges," said Todorovic. "They know how important their role is as a first-ever college futsal team and that is how they behave."
Westcliff has begun to bring more exposure about the program in the states but also down south as they traveled to Mexico to play a couple of teams this year.
"We played at the NorthWest Regionals competition in Santa Clara, CA and we had 3 trips down to Mexico," said Todorovic. "We scrimmaged against local teams in Ensenada (one trip, three games) and Tecate (two trips, two games each)."
The Warriors are especially proud to have Enzo Passantino as their captain who brings invaluable experience considering he is with the US Futsal National team.
Todorovic is going to be busy this summer as he continues to develop the current team and has tryouts to bring in more talent for the upcoming season.
"Futsal is the fastest growing sport and Westcliff is the pioneer of that game at the collegiate level," said Todorovic. "Some of the best players in the whole country expressed interest in coming here.
"The goal is to be a part of a collegiate league that will constantly be growing until reaching the national level."
The Warriors will have tryouts soon and if you're someone or know someone that might be interested, follow the futsal Instagram page for all the news and announcements as well getting links to the games that are often broadcasted, @westcliff_mfutsal.