Futsal, while a relatively recent phenomenon in the United States (only three years ago, futsal balls were practically unheard of in Traverse City’s sporting goods stores, and had to be purchased online), has been a well-established sport for over eight decades in the rest of the world. According to the website of the English Football Association (the group was established in 1863), “futsal fever … owes a great deal of its success and all of its appeal to the streets and playgrounds of South America where the game was first conceived.”