KAILUA-KONA — Raphael Alves isn’t touting a secret recipe for football success, or a patented plan on how to become one of the greats. He prefers to keep it simple, only asking his students to show up with two things: a ball and a desire to play.
It’s the kind of culture Alves grew up with in Brazil, where football is played on almost every street corner. It doesn’t matter what club you play for or the color of your jersey. Wherever there is a ball, there is a game – even if there is no ground.
“Without culture, football doesn’t work,” said Alves. “In Brazil, it’s embedded in the culture, wherever you go. That’s what makes it great.
Over the past two years, Alves – a former professional player – has come to the Big Island with his club Culture FC, teaching the game in different ways, some taking players away from the traditional field.
On the concrete slabs of Old Kona Airport Park, on the basketball courts and on the hockey rink, it comes in the form of futsol – a modified version of football played with five players on each side on a field smaller.
Last week, the game took another form for the keiki scores that showed up at Coconut Grove Marketplace via footvolley – this sport follows the basic rules of beach volleyball but without using the hands.
Using well-placed kicks and headers, the two-man match – equal parts circus act and athletic magic – drew a crowd to the Alii Drive sand volleyball court so that the Culture FC team presented a screen.
To serve the ball, players place it on a mound of sand and hit it over the net. The opposing team gets three touches of the ball before sending it back. It’s not as easy as it looks and certainly not as easy as Alves and Co. has led you to believe.
“People get confused and think it’s impossible at first,” said a laughing Alves, who plays on a professional tour of footvolley. “But once we introduce the techniques and the basics, people fall in love with it.”
The kicker with footvolley is an important workout for those looking to improve their game on the soccer field. The creativity and skill needed to get the ball over the net translates perfectly to a traditional pitch.
“From youth to professional level, there are players who have problems with the balls in the air,” Alves said. “When you play footvolley you are used to balls coming at you from different angles. Then you go back and play football and any ball that comes in the air is a piece of cake.
Culture FC’s holistic approach to sport is one that has impressed Keone Au, who has taken the reins as the local organizer of the camps and keeps the game going all year round.
“What they bring is the perspective of the world,” Au said. “Outside of the United States, people do things differently. I imagine all of us in this little room, doing things a certain way. Then Raphael and his guys knock on the window and say, “Hey, look what we’re doing outside.”
The group’s goal is to get kids playing with a soccer ball – whether on grass, concrete or sand – as much as possible.
“The best soccer players in the world have reached this level, not by having great coaches at a young age,” Alves said, “but by playing street soccer with their friends.”
The group has free “open runs” — which are pickup-style futsol games — and footvolley matches, currently scheduled for Sundays and Wednesdays in Coconut Grove. Au said he was also in talks to convert Kailua Playground into a full-time futsol court.
“Kids only get exhausted if you try to train them all the time. But if you make it something like surfing where it’s a lot of fun, they’ll kick and scream when you tell them it’s it’s time to go home,” Au said. “A kid from Brazil is no different than a kid from Hawaii. It’s just the sports culture around them that makes the difference.
For more information about Culture FC or how to get involved, contact Au at [email protected] or call 640-8831.
