New Zealand Football is well placed to continue delivering an enjoyable futsal experience to all participants after analysing the findings of an important body of research.

In collaboration with Sport New Zealand and independent research company Nielsen, a confidential survey was conducted to allow New Zealand Football to better understand how futsal players view their experience in local leagues run by the country’s seven regional federations.

The main aim of the Voice of Participant (VoP) survey was to understand what is important to players and how their playing experience might be improved.

“The VoP Futsal Report is a really valuable tool to listen to what is important to our community,” says Josh Margetts, Futsal Development Manager for New Zealand Football.

“The insights that were gathered throughout this process will help us to continue to provide a high-quality sporting experience at every level of futsal in New Zealand.”

The fast-paced, small-sided sport of futsal has experienced rapid growth since being brought under the umbrella of New Zealand Football in 2010.

There are now over 28,000 registered futsal players in the country and it is one of the fastest-growing team sports in the secondary school system.

“In a sport experiencing such rapid growth, we need to constantly improve our programmes, pathways and systems,” Margetts says.

“We have a very passionate and committed community of futsal participants which is evident in the high likelihood to re-join results in the report. The really valuable aspect of this research is that we can identify important areas such as the joining process and player development programmes, which will help contribute to the ongoing success of the sport,” he adds.

“New Zealand Football would like to thank Sport NZ and Nielsen, who have been leaders in this research. It is also important to recognise every single person who provided such valuable feedback in this survey.”

To view the findings of the Voice of Participant Futsal Report please click here

Article added: Wednesday 04 September 2019