Beach soccer

Sun, sand and soccer

Like 9/10th's of the global population I am in love with the Beautiful Game. Unlike 9/10th's of the global population I love Chelsea Football Club. Now before half of you sigh and say oh no not another 'new' supporter of Mourinho's men, I have supported them from afar for about a decade and then more ardently since I moved to SW London about 5 years ago. My main motivation for following the Blues was to kick off some healthy competition with Dad who is a Man Utd fan.

Beach soccer is a great addition to any footy fan's diary. Every summer the European Beach Soccer League kicks off and brings together some of the most exciting talent outside of the Premiership for a series of tournaments in Spain, France, Portugal and Italy. It is such an exciting, pacy game to watch. Given that its played on sand the onus is to keep the ball in the air - so there are loads of overhead kicks and awesome aerial skills. The game never finishes with a draw because if it is for example 4 a piece at full time, extra time is played, and then penalties taken to determine the winner...because of this there are stacks of goals as the teams always play to win.

My favourite footy sites are therefore of course www.chelseafc.com, www.beachsoccer.com and www.grassrootsoccer.org which is an fantastic charity co-founded by an American friend of mine, which seeks to educate African kids about HIV and AIDS through football. Check out their amazing work which really is making a difference with the fight against the AIDS pandemic.