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Futtoc, an acronym for football and touch (toc, in Catalan), is a new type of sport that is played preferably outdoors, which emerged improvisedly by two friends, in the streets of Barcelona, in 2004.
The official presentation was made in 2015, at the Olympic Museum of Barcelona, on the occasion of the creation of the International Futtoc Association, registered in the registry of sports entities, born with the intention of providing a legal framework for a new sport. where several options come together: the ball game in combination with soccer, on a table, with the ball having to be passed through a net.
I admit that the first time I saw Futtoc play I thought they were people who did not respect the rules of civility, playing with a ball, apparently a soccer ball, on a ping pong table, as seen in this report in Las Photos from La Vanguardia Readers.
History tells us that it all began a few meters from the Picornell Pools, in Montjuïc. Two friends, former soccer players, improved their technique in the middle of the street, passing a soccer ball with their feet, from one side to the other of a fence at construction sites, as if a game of soccer, tennis or table tennis were taking place. would try Over time, they took down that fence and continued playing on a ping pong table next door.
The inventors were Juan Cano and Ildefonso Fernández (Toto), and later Santi Pou and Quique Cárcel were added to the project, all of them friends and former soccer players, who created and perfected this fun sport.
This sporting discipline is a mix between football, tennis and table tennis, designed with a clear urban vocation, so that it is mainly practiced outdoors, taking into account that one of the objectives of its promoters is "to encourage young people play in the street, like before, something that is lost.
It is a dynamic, fun, ageless, integrative sport that, in turn, allows football fans to improve their technique.
It is a combination between soccer, without a goal, tennis, without a racket, and table tennis, without the paddle. An oval table very similar to a ping-pong table is used and players have to pass a futtoc ball, made of a lighter material, over the net.
It can be played individually or in pairs, it is governed by rules very similar to those of table tennis - in terms of scoring and serving - and the ball can be passed to the opposite field with any part of the body, head, chest, foot, knee, except with the arms or hands, you can even get on the table, which is the playing field, suspended about 70 centimeters from the ground.
All this makes Futtoc a "dynamic, explosive and very fun sport, suitable for all ages and genders, which allows you to interact and socialize, at the same time, doing physical activities, with exercise that activates the circulatory system and improves oxygen supply to the organs, and in addition, the technique can be improved.
This sport is aimed at all audiences, from children to the elderly regardless of gender, but especially at soccer players and people who really like ball games.
Futtoc is a sporting activity where technique and skill take precedence over the great physical condition that is needed to play on a soccer or soccer field. Like any sport, the health benefits are notable; regular practice of this sport gives people dynamism.
This new sport is played on an oval Futtoc table and a Futtoc ball and can be practiced individually, one against one or in pairs.
Futtoc has a regulatory body, the International Futtoc Association, with regulations, a ball and a pitch that are approved and official.
The rules are simple, it is governed by rules very similar to those of table tennis - in terms of scoring and serving - and the ball can be passed to the opposite field with any part of the body, except with the hands, or the arms, "like in soccer," and it is even allowed to get on the table to hit the ball better. You must do this by first stepping on "the area of the small area and large area, and without stepping on the semicircle at the front of the painted area on the table."
The Futtoc street regulation is attached, for example, to one of the sides of the gaming table installed in Montjuïc. It is based on table tennis.
According to the official regulations of the International Futtoc Association, the official futtoc table-board, on which the lines of a soccer field appear drawn, must measure 2,830 x 1,920 millimeters and be located in the horizontal plane at 76 centimeters from the ground .
Another characteristic of the table, developed by Speedcourts, is that it does not have corners, that is, all the vertices and sides of the perimeter of the table are rounded to avoid possible accidents due to impact.
For its part, the net must be 15 centimeters high, above the table. The board is made of polyester using an FVR system and reinforced with an injected fiberglass core and hardening resins.
These materials guarantee the total resistance of the table to humidity, rain and snow, as well as cold, heat, sun, ultraviolet rays and impacts. In addition, its non-porous surface is anti-graphite and anti-bacteria.
It must have a spherical shape and a circumference of 71 centimeters; It must be made of a rubber material covered with the fur of a tennis ball and with black and white hexagons. In addition, it must weigh 300 grams deflated at the beginning of the match and a pressure of between 0.3 and 0.4 atmospheres at sea level.
I must add that I have visited several important sports equipment stores, asked their employees if they had the ball or knew about this sport, surprisingly the answer was that they did not know about it and, of course, they did not have the ball.
Barcelona, the city where this sport was born, was the venue for the 1st International Futtoc Championship, which was held on July 31, 2012.
Today futtoc has a regulatory body, the International Futtoc Association, chaired by Josep Maria Ferreter, with regulations, a ball and a pitch that are approved and official.
At the time (2016), a lighter table was sought so that it could be easily transported to the chosen place and its cost would be more economical, so that practicing Futtoc would be more accessible and comfortable.
Among the curiosities that this fun sport accumulates, Josep Guardiola discovered this new modality in Barcelona and installed two Futtoc tables in the Bayern Munich Sports City when he was the coach.
Among the numerous teams that have practiced this sport, there are players from Manchester City, Girona, Betis, Espanyol... in the Soccer Schools, "where students learn to control the ball and improve their touch", in many parts of the country. Spanish, in parks and gardens, sports centers, especially in Catalonia, and international expansion through the United States, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, the United Kingdom and France, Dubai, Japan...
It is surprising that this sport, born in 2004, officially in 2015, in Barcelona, is not more recognized, for all the benefits it provides in terms of physical and mental activity, rules or norms, competition, fun, games, friendship.
It is a sport suitable for all ages and all levels, which promotes physical activity, especially outdoors, integrative, improves quality and precision, designed by and for football lovers, with a clear urban vocation.
If you are passionate about ball and want to try new experiences, you cannot miss this fun and dynamic sport (I have practiced it and I have been enthusiastic about it).
