Imagine soccer played on a basketball court and you have futsal (pronounced "phoot-saul"), the sport Union University men's head soccer coach Clovis Simas grew up playing.

"(In futsal), you play five against five. It's pretty close to basketball rules. If the ball goes out of play, the clock stops ... You play two halves of twenty minutes. (Compared to soccer), the goal is smaller and the ball is smaller and heavier."

With a playing field the size of a basketball court, futsal requires a lot of footwork and quick decision-making.

"Futsal is a great tool to develop players," said Simas. "They can use the skills they learn (in futsal) on the soccer field."

Simas recently played in the U.S. National Futsal tournament, held in Baltimore. Simas, who was captain of the World United team in 2003 that won the tournament, was contacted by a team from New England and asked to play with them. He agreed but had reasons for going other than just playing in the tournament.

(Union men's soccer coach Clovis Simas shows soccer players a technique to keep the ball away from a defender during his soccer camp at Union University on Wednesday. (From KATIE MORGAN /The Jackson Sun)

"I try to get to this tournament every year because there are a lot of opportunities for recruiting ... I most likely got a kid from Maine trying to come to Union and also a kid from Brazil."

The tournament is played at the Baltimore Convention Center. Boys and girls teams from all age groups across America come to play in the tournament. Simas played in the open division.

"We lost 2-1 in overtime in the semifinals," said Simas. "The team who beat us ended up being the champions."

"Teams came from Utah, New Jersey, Maryland and all over the U.S."

The U.S. National Futsal tournament is in its 23rd year of competition.

Growing up in Brazil, Simas started playing futsal when he was 10. He played on the Brazil National team that won the FIFA Futsal World Cup Title in 1996, leading the team in points scored. Before leading Union to the 2003 NCCAA National Tournament, Simas played for the National Premier Soccer League. He won such awards as three time NPSL All-Star and NPSL Rookie of the Year.

Currently, Simas is in his third season coaching the Union University soccer team. He also is the coaching director of Nike Rush Tennessee

(Clovis Simas, left, watches as players run through drills on Wednesday morning at Union University during his soccer camp. (From KATIE MORGAN /The Jackson Sun)