Knapp The Western New York community finally has a new sport to enjoy, and a league which caters to adults as well.

Futsal, a brand of indoor soccer played on open gyms and courts, has just started catching on locally. But it’s thanks to one man, Amherst resident Ryan Knapp, that the league and sport even have a chance locally.

“It’s one of those things you have to play,” Knapp said, adding the game is different once you experience it first hand. To him, it was addicting as soon as he experienced it while living in Spain a few years ago.

Futsal is a big deal in Europe and Brazil, two regions known for soccer dominance on the world stage. Futsal is a way of life, the recreational activity of choice much like children in Western New York flood streets for street hockey each summer, or play baseball.

“I first experienced futsal when I lived in Spain for two years,” he said. “We just played it for fun. When I moved back, I just forgot about it.”

But the thought of trying to start a league slowly entered his mind as the Buffalo Niagara Court Center in West Seneca began publicizing its own league. Geared toward children, the BNCC league never got off the ground. Knapp knew he had to do something different if he was going to succeed.

So he changed the approach. Instead of targeting the youth out of the gate, he focused on attracting adult recreational players, those he’d spent considerable time playing with himself in several leagues throughout Western New York. The result was mixed from week to week as he began organizing pickup games, both at the BNCC and the Ken-Ton YMCA, where Knapp is employed.

But slowly, he began seeking teams for the league, not wanting to push too hard. The result was history made in February as teams began play in the regular season of the area’s first futsal league.

“We wanted to go after a couple adult teams, really start small,” he said. “We wanted to get the refs used to the game. Then we’re really going to go after it next year.”

Knapp said the idea is to have a solid base for the league next season, which he estimates will begin in the fall. But he’s also planning on adding a youth division, especially as word travels around soccer circles locally of the league he’s formed.

But for now, Knapp is satisfied with a six-team, adult league. The size allows he and fellow league manager Paul Welker to figure out what’s needed be- fore pushing for more participants and an increase in teams, he said.

“It allows us to see where we need to go before we go crazy with the teams,” he said. “We want to work with the teams we have now to make it the best league we can.”

The league meets each Friday in West Seneca. Sunday afternoon pickup games are also held at 4 p.m. each week at the Ken-Ton YMCA, located at 535 Belmont Ave., Tonawanda.

For more information, go online to www.bflofutsal.com.