Rogers Mato on how Futsal helped his development

Over the past few years, Futsal has become the bedrock of Uganda’s football upbringing where a number of successful players have made a grade up to Uganda’s top flight football league after having spent some time playing the indoor fast-paced game.

Uganda Cranes and KCCA’s versatile player Rogers Mato Kassim is one of the many Futsal graduates that have gone on to become a big hit in Uganda’s top tier league and in the national team setup.

Mato was a pivotal figure for Typhoon Futsal Club (now Mengo Futsal Club) for two years before FUFA Big League side Proline FC spotted him.

KCCA came calling soon afterwards at the beginning of last season and since then, Mato has gone to be one of the most consistent players at the club which has consequently earned him several caps in the Uganda’s national senior football team, the Cranes.

Speaking to FAU Media, Mato says Futsal helped him improve on his football abilities.

“Futsal is a game full of fun and it helped me improve on my skills and technical abilities such as the scoring and passing abilities” Mato said before adding;

“It’s a game of pace so it also helped me improve on my pace in the field of play, and this has played a vital role in my development “

Futsal is mostly played indoors with the usage of a smaller ball with significantly less bounce. Five players on each team are constantly rotated, but with the pace being so fast, all players enjoy plenty of the ball without being confined to one position—the team moves as one.

In Uganda, it started in 2015 and is one of nation’s first growing sport over the past few years.

KJT are the defending champions of the Futsal Super League, having finished top of the 8-team log last season.