A West Belfast futsal team is aiming high as it prepares to make its competitive bow.
Belfast Celtic Futsal is the rebranded club to come out of Sport and Leisure Swifts.
They are aiming to be the city's first semi-professional futsal team and will compete in the IFA Futsal League.
Team manager Paul O'Cahan said: "Players will benefit from things like training gear, education and coaching, bursaries and expenses, that will help them in committing to an intense training and game schedule.
"Again we stand by the mantra that it is Free to Play.
"The aim of the aquad is to develop highly skilled players that can compete at a national and European level by delivering high quality coaching and game development.
"Belfast Celtic Futsal wants to win the IFA Futsal League and gain access to the UEFA Futsal Champions League."
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The club has lofty ambitions to compete at the highest level, and Paul believes there is a growing interest in futsal in the West Belfast area.
"There is a real movement at the moment to bring a higher standard of football to West Belfast," he added.
"Futsal allows players to hone in on their skills such as their first touch, tricks, close control, rapid passing and extremely quick decision making.
"It complements football but is a sport in its own right. Being good at 11-aside football does not mean you’ll be a good Futsal player, and vice versa.
"However the skill set developed in Futsal is perfect for those young their game on a bigger pitch."
The club will be hosting open trials tonight (Wednesday) at Shankill Leisure Centre (8.30pm) and will play a number of friendlies in the coming weeks.
"We are interested in players over the age of 16 who want to take Futsal seriously, who can train once a week and can play throughout the season," Paul added.
"Anyone interested should get in touch with the club."
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