Pokemon and The FA team up to launch futsal tournament for kids

The FA have teamed up with Pokemon to launch a futsal tournament for children.

The aim is to get more children to learn and develop their futsal skills.

It's the second season of the tournament, known as the FA Pokemon Youth Cup, and this year England players Raheem Sterling, Tammy Abraham, Rachel Yankey, plus YouTuber Tekkerz Kid all got involved, showing off their skills to mark the start of the tournament.

Tekkerz Kid has 1.6million subscribers on YouTube

The FA Pokemon Youth Cup begins with County FA organised qualifiers, then a regional tournament and eventually the National Finals that will take place in 2021.

Players in the tournament can even get their hands on a limited-edition Pikachu Futsal Pokémon Trading Card.

To get involved children have to sign-up through the official FA website.

The FA and Pokemon teamed up so they can help provide participation opportunities for young people across the country

What is futsal?

Futsal is similar to football, but played on a hard court and mainly indoors. It's similar to five-a-side football, as there's five players on each team.

The ball for futsal is smaller and harder than normal footballs and it also has a lower bounce. Because of that, and the hard surface of futsal courts, the game is more focused on ball control and passing in small spaces.

In October, Barcelona won the UEFA Futsal Champions League final

How has covid-19 affected futsal?

In September, The FA announced that funding for elite England futsal teams would be cut, as well as being significantly reduced for grassroots teams.

Members of the England men's futsal team

It's because the FA are predicting they'll lose a huge amount of money due to the pandemic - around £300m - and they say they need to use what they have for the men and women's senior England teams.

But, the FA Pokemon Youth futsal tournament will still be going ahead.

Would you like to try futsal? Let us know in the comments!