With our recent sponsoring of the England Women’s Beach Soccer Team and their subsequent win at the Europe Qualifier, we think more people should know about this incredible sport. These ladies deserve just as much love and support as people have been giving our football teams in the most recent Championship League Final. So, we’re here to tell you why we think Beach Soccer is so great:

1) In Beach Soccer There’s Always a Winner
One of the frustrating things about watching a game of football is when the teams draw and now you feel as though you’ve wasted 90 minutes with no satisfying outcome. In Beach Soccer, there can only be one winner.

If there is a draw after the normal game time is done, there will be an extra 3 minutes of time in which a team may win. A win during this time is worth 2 points instead of the normal 3 points. If no team has won after this extended period of time, then the game will go into penalties where a win is worth 1 point.

2) It’s More Engaging

Due to the sand, the ball cannot be rolled and kicked as easily, this means the ball will spend most of the time in the air during a game of beach soccer. This leads the players to focus more on flexibility, height, strength and to a degree acrobatics to get the ball to the required destination. You can’t deny that watching people flip and balance balls on different parts of their body is more engaging than watching a ball roll across grass. This focus on an aerial game, means you’re in for a much more engaging viewing experience.

3) Sunnier Viewings

As you can probably guess from the name of the game, you need sand in order to play Beach Soccer. Matches mostly take place in warm, sunny countries such as Spain which makes attending any match much more enjoyable than sitting at a football stadium in the rain. You could combine an attendance with a holiday or just use it as an excuse to have one!

4)Games are Shorter

In football, a match will last a total of 90 minutes which is split into two 45 minute halves. In an uneventful game, this runtime can drag on and you’d be better off watching a movie.

Beach soccer, on the other hand, only lasts a third of that time at 36 minutes! Each game is split into a nice 12 minute chunk which is manageable to watch whether you enjoy watching sports or not. No more complaining from your partner, or falling asleep during a match, your attention will be kept for the whole game and it’ll be over before you know it.

5) It’s More Fast Paced

During an average game of football, there may only be 3 goals scored. Because the pitch is so big, there’s a huge part of the run time that takes place in the middle of the match with players swapping the ball around which can become a bit of a bore.

In Beach soccer, the field is compact which allows players to score from anywhere on the sand. This means there is on average, sixty attempts at the goal in a single match with a scoring rate of around one goal every three of four minutes. In total there are around 11 goals scored in any one game of beach soccer, which keeps you fixed to the edge of your seat in anticipation.

All joking aside, while football is of huge cultural significance to many countries and love and support for local teams is evident, our beach soccer teams deserve just as much support. They work just as hard and it’s a genuinely enjoyable event to spectate, so maybe give the European Cup a watch on the 5th-7th July 2019 and show your support for our lesser known sports teams.