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Meet Manuel, Esteban, Felipe, and Federico Mariel of City Futsal

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Manuel, Esteban, Felipe, and Federico Mariel.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Manuel, Esteban, Felipe, and Federico. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It’s funny because when you look back at your life and what your ambitions, focus, upbringing and endless hours of training was, you understand where you are now and where your heading. City Futsal started off as Dallas Futsal. It was a transition from the grassy pitch to the hard court. The small group trainings we were conducting outside were great for 2 young energetic guys with a lot of passion for making kids realize their ability and potential. But we were always thinking about the future and what we wanted to achieve. We started to introduce futsal once a week with all of our existing clients in a one court gym (Our Redeemer Lutheran Church).

Then once we realized with our energy and ability to train kids at a high level and how people responded to the both of us, we officially introduced it into our once a week skills session. Our program was now a once a week futsal session and once a week outdoor session. And so we took it on the road all across the DFW metroplex! From Dallas to far south Arlington and Mansfield, then far north to Frisco, Plano and then far east to Rockwall. We would throw our goals in the back of our pick up and make the long hall. Nothing was too far and no group was too little or big. We felt a desire and a duty to ourselves and our family. We grew up in a house of 6 with parents who came here from Brazil and Argentina with nothing, but built a family and a work ethic that was sick!

My dad and mom sacrificed a comfortable life for all of us to get the best education and opportunities only few could dream and afford. So we felt like nothing was impossible, we were destined to be on the road working crazy hours Monday- Sunday, whenever we could get a gym and a group of kids. I swear on our off time we were searching gym locations and just new opportunities to get a court. We started with no start-up capital or investment, just a truck, bag of balls, cones and a set of goals. And all the money we made we invested back into the company. We decided we needed some type of website so we could reach more people via the Internet, so we saved $5000 and hired a company to program a new website and 1 new computer to work all of our programs and organize all of our clients.

This was the time when Facebook started to really boom and everyone was using it, even a few businesses, but no one really utilized it the way we saw we could. So we asked our younger brother Felipe who was and still is an extremely artistic and computer savvy guy to help us with our website and our Facebook. That’s when he introduced the visuals (pictures/ videos) which gave the public an image/ look into what we were doing. We soon bought our first camera, video was shot, edited and posted! We started Adult Pick up games once a week and started to video the games and blasted music in the small one court gym. We started to post videos and top plays, top goals and every week more guys showed up to play. $2 pickups! We then wanted to take it to the next level. Let’s do a tournament…

Our first Adult tournament was conceived, but not just any tournament, because we played and graduated from SMU, we were able to rent out the new Moody courts for our first Adult tournament. It was a success. My dad at the time was still working in fashion, and we were getting so busy we decided to ask him for some help. Now when I tell you my dad can sell just about anything, he can sell a ketchup popsicle in the heat of the Texas summer to a woman in white gloves! So we announced our first youth tournament at SMU and again a success! So we started to send out youth pick up games and it gained a ton of traction with close to 30- 50 kids everytime we sent a pick up out!

With the videos and pictures being pushed out through facebook by Felipe, Federico’s selling ability and Esteban and my passion on the training side we had something going. But even in this small window and period of success, we weren’t satisfied with our product. We felt like we wanted to do more for these kids. We didn’t want to offer a product that was already in the market, yes futsal was new, but once a week training, there were plenty of companies doing skills. But what was going to make a huge impact in the market, for these kids? How could we give these kids the opportunities that were given to me and how could we really follow through with an authentic experience for these young footballers?

Something they could look back and say that shaped my life, which shaped who I am today and gave me the tools to succeed. So we decided to take one of our older students to Santos Brazil to train during the summer. We were going to take him to were Esteban and I played as a young footballer and where I was introduced to futsal at 12 years old. My dad sent Esteban and I to Santos Brazil at 12 years old to train and play for 8 months. So we set on our journey but now it was the beginning of our teaching journey and the opportunity for one of our students to play in Brazil. We were able to follow the Santos curriculum from age’s U6- Pro team.

And this was the era when Falcao was playing for Santos and they were a powerhouse! We got the opportunity of a lifetime, to learn what the best country and one of the best clubs in Brazil, Santos do for the development of their athletes. So on the plane ride home on a paper napkin, Esteban and I started to write the program we wanted to implement in Dallas with Futsal. This is what everyone knows today as FDSP(Futsal Developmental Soccer Program). We were going to make an impact in the market, strictly a training program where we saw athletes 5 days/ week 9 months out of the year. And so began the journey of City Futsal.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The struggle is real! The journey has had its ups and downs and it continues to keep us on our toes. With little to no resources and money, building a business can feel impossible. We have had to jump from facility to facility for the first 3 years and convincing gyms to implement futsal, a sport most people didn’t know nor did they understand, was very difficult. We were given the times and space no one else wanted, so our programming had to be unique and it had to flexible. We had the impossible task of introducing a new sport, educating the public, convincing gyms to let us use their dead space and trying to build a consistent schedule for our clients.

This is a family run business so our whole family helps run and operate the day to day, so if we don’t sell, our family doesn’t eat! It became a do or die, or sink or swim. But I think that’s why we have been able to successfully grow and stay in business. We have also been very persistent on growing, and growing doesn’t mean your necessarily generating more revenue at first, but your expenses shoot up, and your working longer and longer hours. In the end, we have tripped, got knocked down, fallen and everything in between but have been able to keep our business growing.

City Futsal – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We operate Sports Clubs with youth futsal programming being the anchor of our clubs. We specialize in the education, promotion, training and competition of youth futsal programs and adult sports. We are known for our development of youth soccer players and youth athletes.

We are most proud of our community and our team, we have built a club environment like no other! What sets us apart is our family-like atmosphere and our love and passion for the kids and our community.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There are too many to count… However, if I had to choose would be building something sustainable with your family and close friends.

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Image Credit:
Felipe Mariel

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