As the sun pounds down on the tennis courts at lunch, so too do the feet of members of Futsal Club, as they chase back and forth after the soccer ball. The LASA Futsal Club, which was formed three years ago and has grown in size each year, expanded its base of members even further with the new combined LASA and LBJ lunch, a shift that has brought major changes to the club.

Club founder and president Robert Yam wanted to continue the tradition of his middle school’s futsal club, and so in 2016 the LASA Futsal Club was born.

“I started it my freshman year,” Yam said. “Fulmore had a club which I went to all three years of middle school. I wanted to continue it at LASA and I did. I also like soccer, a lot of people like soccer, this is why futsal is successful.”

In the beginning, the club was formed around a group of friends, including club member Zayan Vohra, who came to have a place to hang out and stayed to play the game.

“I was drawn to futsal by my friends, who all committed to spending their lunches developing their skills, and I wanted to hang out with them,” Vohra said. “It was a great way to get a burst of fun physical activity in the middle of the day so I could make it until the end. Over the years, futsal became a loving and welcoming environment for more and more people in the LASA community. What was once a scrappy group of freshmen who wanted to have fun became a full fledged club dedicated to bringing good times to LASA students.”

Experience in soccer isn’t necessarily required to participate in club activities. Even beginners can come to have fun, learn to play, and improve their skills over time, according to Vohra.

“I have close to no soccer experience, and in the beginning it was hard but I’ve seen myself steadily improve in the last few years and that really makes going to the club so much more valuable,” said Vohra.

The club steadily grew in size over the first two years, which changed this year with the new schedule, which combined LASA and LBJ’s lunches into one time slot. Christian Salinas, who has been a prominent member of the club since its conception, spoke to this.

“I think it’s a major benefit for the club as soccer seems to be more popular with LBJ so they naturally flock to the club, it’s a great bonding experience,” Salinas said. “It’s become more open and less of a clique.”

This large expansion, while attracting more members, brings with it a set of new challenges, which Vohra expanded on.

“The combined lunches have brought a lot more people into the club, and I’m all for inclusivity but it’s almost become too crowded,” said Vohra. “It makes it difficult to ever get the ball and it invalidates dribbling because someone will just tackle you. I wish we could have 2-3 games going at the same time.”

In addition to this change, many previous club regulars have been staying indoors during lunch due to hot temperatures and heavier homework loads. According to Salinas, adapting to these conditions have helped the club develop its true identity.

“This year, some of futsals more marquee names have been holding out waiting for the temperatures to drop. While last year, numbers weren’t in much flux I feel like this year the club has had to really power through a potentially difficult time and has been reborn and evolved in what was really a learning process for everyone.”