Background of the Business

Maranatha Christian University 1 CHAPTER I THE BACKGROUND

1.1. Background of the Business

Sport is important for everyone. Lots of people do sports either to keep healthy or only for relaxing. According to an article entitled “Sport is Healthy”, “It is a well known fact that exercising is very good for our body and health. Any kind of sport that involves body movement stimulates our muscles and burns fat. Toxic waste is removed from our body through sweat” par. 1. Besides for health, sport is an alternative to have fun. It is true as Tapsell says, There is no excuse for looking down in sport because it’s not your pursuit of choice. It provides many of the same benefits to its devotees as intellectual pursuits do, and is no less worthy. To those who might not have been fortunate enough to have been brought up in an environment conducive to educational excellence or intellectual development, it provides an essential outlet for competitive spirit and a good way to let off steam in what might be a depressing and frustrating environment par.5. Maranatha Christian University 2 There are many kinds of sport, and one of the famous sports is futsal. Futsal is a world-wide sport. People in many countries play futsal, as mentioned in an article entitled “What is Futsal?” that, “futsal is now played by over 12 million people in over 100 countries worldwide” par. 3. Futsal is almost the same as soccer. There are some differences between futsal and soccer. Futsal requires small number of people to play, while soccer needs more than eleven people to play. Moreover, there are differences in the rules. In soccer, body contact, and tackling are allowed, but in futsal, body contact, and tackling are not allowed. Many people are interested in futsal because it can help them to improve their soccer skills. Lots of soccer stars develop their skills by playing futsal. It is true as Brown says, “Futsal is played world-wide, especially in Brazil, and many great soccer legends like Pele and the hot new stars, Ronaldinho AC Milan, Christiano Ronaldo Real Madrid, and Lionel Messi Barcelona have grown up playing futsal” par.4. Nowadays, futsal is also one of the famous sports in Indonesia. It is proved by many new futsal centers which have been built from year to year, and there are lots of official tournaments of futsal in the year 2008 in Indonesia such as Yamaha Futsal Cup 2008, AAUI Cup in 2008, Kodim Cup in 2008, and Bandung University Futsal Competition and official tournaments of futsal in year 2009 such as Darmajaya Futsal Tournament in March the 2009, Sang Timur Cup 2009, Liga Futsal Nasional 2009, as mentioned in an article entitled “Events Programme” par. 1. Bandung is one of the biggest cities in Indonesia, and people in Bandung are enthusiastic about futsal. Many people play futsal as their Maranatha Christian University 3 main sport. It is proven by the growing number of futsal centers that have been built in 2008 and 2009, such as Star in Holis, Futsal 76 in Jl. Babakan Jeruk, Hiroz Futsal in Jl. Pahlawan, and SSC Soekarno Hatta Sport Centre in Jl. Soekarno Hatta. Until now, the total number of futsal centers in Bandung is more than 30. Based on my interview with the owner of some futsal centers in Bandung, the enthusiasm of people in Bandung to play futsal is seen in that many people play futsal every day at their futsal centers. According to the owners, sometimes they cannot handle booking requests because there are too many requests but not enough fields. Most futsal customers are university students. I did some interviews with some futsal centers in Bandung. I found out from the interview that almost 80 of futsal players in Bandung are university students. They play futsal in their leisure time, either to have fun, to maintain their health, or to improve their skills. They do not have to spend a lot of money to play futsal because futsal is cheaper the average rate per hour is Rp 100,000 to Rp 250,000 than soccer the average rate per two hours is around Rp 500,000 to Rp 1,100,000. Moreover, futsal also does not require many people to play. Futsal requires only 8 up to 10 persons in a match, while soccer needs minimum 22 persons in a match. I have four reasons in choosing futsal for my business plan. First, some of the best soccer players develop their talents by playing futsal, and it can attract people to play futsal. They will see that some of their favorite soccer players also improve their skills in futsal. It can give an assumption that they also have a chance to be as good as their favorite soccer players. Second, I choose this business because futsal is my hobby. The Maranatha Christian University 4 fact gives me a benefits which is I know the needs of the customers. Third, futsal is a fun and healthy sport where people can have benefits. Besides having fun, they can also maintain their health. Fourth, futsal is famous at campuses so this will give me benefits since my target market are university students. As Harsanto says, “Futsal is becoming more organized and structured in terms of its organization. It has also become popular on campuses because the sport requires a relatively smaller space to play in compared to soccer” qtd. in The Jakarta Post par.6.

1.2. About the Business