Indoor soccer's growing legion of fans

It's fast, free flowing, and the goals never stop. This is the game of indoor soccer, and it's taking soccer-crazy Singapore by storm.

For the uninitiated, this scaled-down version of standard soccer is played in fenced up compounds with five players on each side. The ball can be played directly off the walls, which does away with the rules and delays for throw-ins, goal kicks and corner kicks. The result is heart-pounding 15 minute quarters, making the hour-long matches as tiring as they are exciting.

Dedicated indoor soccer playgrounds such as The Cage, Singapore's first indoor soccer stadium, have sprouted up on the island to attract players who like the adrenaline and are looking for something different. And The Cage is open 24/7, allowing people from all walks of life come in at all hours of the day (and night).

The beautiful game, in brief

Indoor soccer is an addiction that's shared by all participants. If Azher Khan, head of management reporting for RBS Scotland, were to miss his weekly session with his colleagues, he would feel “disappointed for the week and empty.”

Khan “organizes it [the weekly sessions] religiously by chasing players every week to ensure there are always five players on each side. My players are fellow bankers or friends of friends, but I ask everybody, including women! And I try to ensure a correct balance of players.”

James Chong is another regular who runs a weekly fathers-and-sons session. For him it’s all about fitness. “It's such a great way to condition (the body) that all you need is to miss a session and your stamina takes a dive in the next.”

Real players take it to the turf

Soccer purists might say that indoor soccer is inferior to field soccer. It’s all samba and no substance.

The 43 year-old Chong puts it in perspective. “It's like comparing snooker and pool. Both games have their own challenges, required skills, and rewards. Indoor soccer's much faster-paced and is less bothersome to set up. It's also not dependent on the weather or pitch condition. And for ‘senior’ players, like myself, it's less tiring.”

And it can get quite intense as Khan explains, “During the game, I cajole them, I possibly shout at them, but I like players to give 100 percent effort all the time. I’m willing to put all parts of my body on the line to block all shots on goal,” he says describing just seriously he takes it. 

This sense of involvement is why Chong got hooked on indoor soccer. As he says, “I was never good at field soccer -- there’s just too much running around with very little ball time. I was more often out of breath before I got much kicking done. Indoor soccer's very different. When you're exhausted, you often wish that the ball won’t come to you.”

getting there

The Cage
38 Jalan Benaan Kapal, Singapore
tel +65 6344 9345
www.thecage.com.sg
Fees: Monday - Friday, $50 per hour (before 6pm), $90/hr (after 6pm); Saturday, Sunday & Public Holidays, $90 per hour (any time)