SIDEKICKS NAME PABLO DA SILVA AS NEW HEAD COACH

by Jessie Vilkofsky

The Dallas Sidekicks have finalized a deal to make two-time Major Arena Soccer League champion and current U.S. Men’s Futsal National team assistant coach Pablo Da Silva the franchise’s new head coach.

Da Silva has an extensive background in the professional world of soccer with his playing career spanning over 22 years of professional futsal, indoor and outdoor experiences. In addition to his 13-year MASL career, he also represented the Brazilian National Indoor Soccer Team for 10 years with several World Cup appearances as well as representing the USA in the Concacaf Futsal Club Championship and the Intercontinental Championship.

The reestablishment of the Sidekicks has created an immense number of opportunities for Da Silva to create his own imprint within the history of the team as well as the organization.

Da Silva states, “I feel great. I am very excited to be here. Being in this league for 13 years, I know how everything looks. I have a good relationship with all the coaches. I will use everything I have learned throughout the course of my playing and coaching career to help the players improve their game and take this organization to another level.”

After joining the coaching staff with the U.S. Men’s Futsal National Team, Da Silva got a firsthand look at what it means to start from scratch and help build the National team to two major accomplishments which were attaining Second Place in the Concacaf Qualifier as well as taking the team to the FIFA Futsal World Cup. After these major achievements, the U.S. Men’s Futsal National Team put their stamp on the world stage. This experience has given Da Silva more depth to his insight and application on what to grow a team.

Complimenting his prolific playing career, Da Silva has credentials in coaching educational courses such as a CBF for the Brazilian Development Pathway for Futsal and Soccer, UEFA Share for Futsal, and a USSF National C License. Da Silva is also in the final stage of receiving his Futsal B License with the CBF Brazilian Confederation.

The beginning of a new era is here. Now, Da Silva will take on several focus points in the first few months.

“The idea is for me to step in right now and to get to know the players. Once I get all the players I need, then I will be able to put my ideas and system into place,” Da Silva states. “I must find players but also high character people. A good team starts with good people. I always talk about a good package. This is a good player and a good person. We are trying to build a family here. We will not win a championship with only good players. We must have good chemistry. I want to bring together the players and build a family.”

Once Da Silva has a roster in place, then the focus transitions to application of his coaching style and the holistic development of the team. From short to long-term goals, his focus is on the process of what can be done today to grow this team in a positive direction.

“It is so easy to come here and say we want to win, but the real question is how are we going to do it? First, what I think is most important is to create a new identity of the team. We will focus on the little details. Obviously, we know we want to win, but we also know we must go through the process. We are going to build up the team and the chemistry,” says Da Silva.

In addition to all the efforts in reestablishing the Sidekicks, the community and fans are right at the top of Da Silva’s list to go meet and begin building relationships with.  

“Community is huge. This is going to be an important piece to building a successful organization. I can tell you that is going to happen. The players and the staff are going to be involved in the community. I want people to get to know who we are,” states Da Silva.

Da Silva closes his interview with a remark to the fans and community.

“To the fans and community, I am here to help reestablish the Sidekicks organization and strengthen the relationship with you all. We need your support to make that happen. I can promise you that you are going to see a very professional and organized team who will compete with passion when we face every team in league. I can’t wait get the season started and meet you all in person.”