GFA celebrates grassroots football, introduces walking football

[May 26, 2024 – Harmon, Guam] Interested in trying something new, Barb Sana enlisted her friend Resa Saddo to join her when she saw an opportunity to try walking football as part of Guam Football Association’s AFC Grassroots Football Day celebration Saturday at the GFA National Training Center.

“When I first saw information about walking football, I was thinking, is there such a thing?” said Saddo, who also plays for Tumon Typhoons FC in the GFA Women’s Recreational League and the GFA Co-Ed Masters League. “Barb told me about it and said, let’s play, and I said OK, let’s do this, let’s try this, because this is the first time to have this in Guam. And oh, it was so fun.

“I think the hardest part was trying to keep yourself from running, as we’re used to in the leagues. It was mentally challenging – we had to keep reminding ourselves and our teammates, ‘don’t run, don’t run.’ It wasn’t easy to adapt to the rules, but we were all learning at the same time. By the second match, we got the hang of it and we really enjoyed it,” Saddo added.

A total of seven teams – five women’s teams and two men’s teams – joined the AFC Grassroots Football festivities at GFA and particularly enjoyed walking football. According to the Walking Football Association Web site, walking football is a unique small-sided game created by John Croot in 2011. As the name suggests, the biggest difference from football is that no running is allowed. Additionally, walking football is classified as a non-contact sport according to the Web site. The Web site continues, “the threat of pain, discomfort, and injury is reduced due to the combination of a slower pace and reduced contact. This allows people who have loved the sport all their lives to once again safely get back to playing. It also introduces the sport to people who perhaps have never considered playing before.”

The novelty of the sport in Guam additionally piqued the curiosity of people who had not played football before to GFA to try.

“I think walking football doesn’t sound as intimidating as the G-League or Women’s Recreational Football League; I did notice a lot non-football players that were playing – they must have been curious enough to try it out,” Sana said. “For me, when I first saw walking football, I immediately pictured speed walking and thought oh this is going to be hilarious. That, combined with it being new, instantly I was sold and I said I’d learn the actual rules later.

“There were some rules I had to keep in mind – other than no running, the ball has to stay low to the ground. The tactics are different from the football we’re used to playing in the recreational leagues. For instance, instead of passing to space, we passed to feet because we couldn’t get to the spaces quickly. It also made us more aware about the weight of our passes and positioning to receive the ball. Determining tactics was trial and error for everyone. As we played more matches, I saw it as kind of like slow-motion futsal. It was really fun for me and I think this could really be a big hit if introduced again,” Sana said.

Saturday’s event also included target shooting for individual players and penalty kick shootout contests. The events were part of a larger continental celebration of AFC Grassroots Football, formally observed May 15 each year.

“As underlined in our Vision and Mission, the AFC is resolute in its ambition to ensure football remains the number one sport on the Continent, and to enable the success of our national teams and clubs on the highest of stages,” said AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa. “But to successfully realize that goal, we must always keep our eyes on our very foundation – the grassroots.

But, as we all know, there is a larger purpose to developing football at the grassroots level than just creating a pipeline of future stars. It is just as much about encouraging maximum participation, instilling a love for the sport, and harnessing the power of football to create well-rounded individuals … And to that end, I must applaud the incredible amount of work that the various Member Associations and Regional Associations have undertaken to ensure that the beautiful game remains accessible to all members of society, irrespective of their age, status, gender, and abilities.

“I want to once again thank each and every individual who more often than not is away from the spotlight for their tireless contributions as we join hands to observe the 11th AFC Grassroots Football Day,” the AFC President added.

The introduction of walking football also is part of GFA’s four-year strategic plan as part of the organization’s efforts to grow the masters program under the plan’s “Grow Participation” pillar.

“The walking football event, as well as other activities as part of Guam’s celebration of AFC Grassroots Football Day, was welcomed enthusiastically by many of our adult recreational league athletes and I’m pleased to see the appeal of these new activities among them,” said Joe Cepeda, GFA General Secretary. “We take pride in implementing new avenues for our community to take part in football as a lifelong sport. Although only introduced during this year’s AFC Grassroots Football Day celebration, we hope to include walking football in our next annual calendar of events based on the feedback from many participants.”