It’s game on at FUT50L Training Center, the only indoor facility for futsal between Richmond and Raleigh, N.C.

Futsal is a cross between football and soccer that is becoming increasingly popular in the United States, said Pablo Ortiz, owner of the newly opened FUT5OL Training Center in North Suffolk.

The sport has been popular in European and South American countries for decades, said Ortiz, a former professional player in Uruguay and Mexico. It’s become more popular in recent years in state with large influxes of European and Spanish-speaking people, including Texas, California and New York.

Futsal teams have five players, less than half the number on traditional soccer teams, and games are played on smaller fields, according to Ortiz. Traditionally, it’s played on a hard court — oftentimes, indoors — rather than on grass or turf.

“All five players play both defense and offense,” he said.

Futsal makes stronger players of traditional soccer, Ortiz said.

“With less space on fields, players get stuck in tight places and … have to be able to come up with creative solutions quickly,” said Ortiz. These traits are appealing to soccer coaches and college team recruiters, he added.

Ortiz said he is excited to be in Suffolk and to provide opportunities to develop budding futsal and soccer talent.

“The Suffolk community has been welcoming and thanked us for coming here,” said Ortiz. FUT50L Training Center opened in late December at 1000 Bowen Parkway, near the intersection of Shoulders Hill Road and Nansemond Parkway. “We are proud to be the first in Hampton Roads.”

The center offers youth programs for beginners, clinics that provides specialized training to existing soccer teams and sponsors five travel futsal teams. FUT50L has open night on Wednesdays, where anyone age 15 and over can come play for $10.

Several members of the travel teams come from as far away as North Carolina’s Outer Banks twice weekly for practice, said team manager Kari Cahill of Currituck County, N.C. Her 14-year-old daughter, Kendal, has played on the travel team for three years.