Football Community gives back
2006-03-29
A.S. Azule
International icons playing for Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona and the like and those playing in the local Tokyo Metropolis League have something in common. There comes a time in every footballer's career when he or she comes to the realization that the sport has enhanced, benefited and shaped their life in ways they'd never even thought about. Your football team is your family, your club is your support group and social network and the moment this epiphany hits home is a profound moment indeed.
Often this newfound, total awareness of 'the beautiful game' inspires individuals to give something back to the sport that has given so much to them. David Beckham, for example, opened the first of his children's soccer academies in Greenwich, south east London, last November. The academy can facilitate the training of 15,000 young boys and girls, of which many can train for free, and as well as having two full-size indoor football pitches also has classrooms, a dining hall and state-of-the-art medical facilities. Beckham, himself a graduate from the famed Bobby Charlton Soccer School, wanted children, regardless of race, social class, religion and gender to learn about health, fitness and nutrition, as well as football.
CareerCross striker takes a shot
Once a year the amateur football community in Kanto is provided with the opportunity to give something back to football, or, more specifically, use football as a tool to give to those without. Either way, in this instance and perhaps just for the day, the football played in the Footy Japan / YC&AC Charity 6's becomes a pure and selfless act. 22-teams, many of whom play weekly in Kanto's Tokyo Metropolis League, converged on the grass at the Yokohama Country and Athletic Club on March 21st, for a 6-a-side tournament with a difference. The difference being of the corporate sponsors who backed the event (which included Gold Sponsors: CareerCross, Magellan, Bloomberg, Barclays Capital, Coca Cola, Silver Sponsors: Lloyds TSB, Robert Walters, Crown Relocations and Bronze Sponsors: Triangle Solutions and Stella Artois), some opted to make generous contributions on a per-goal-scored basis.
"It's a great motivator to score a lot of goals," said a prominent striker from the British Football Club, last year's champions. "The knowledge that for every goal I score money will be raised to help UNICEF help destitute children in the world, who may have never kicked a football before, keeps me fired up and shooting at any opportunity it's quite a buzz."
The culmination of a fantastic day of football saw a total of 81-goals scored and the princely sum of 560,000JPY raised for UNICEF thanks to the support of the teams and all the sponsors.
From anonymity to tournament champions A.S. Azule emerged victors on the day and it was their slick passing game, intelligent movement off the ball and sharp shooting, not to mention the fact that they matched brawn with brawn throughout the competition, that ensured their disposal of Tokyo Hibernian FC 2-0 in the semi-final and France FC 1-0 in the final match. A.S. Azule playmaker Kazu Matsumoto also walked away with the Magellan MVP trophy, for his tenacious performance throughout the day that included a spectacular volley that Pele himself would've been proud of. In the plate competition a hotly contested final between the Celtic Supporters Club and AFC Wanderers saw CSC emerge victors with a 1-0 win.
"It was a fantastic day," said event organizer Sid Lloyd. "This has probably been the biggest and best tournament that Footy Japan Ltd. has been involved in and we hope that next year there'll be even more teams, more sponsors and hopefully a new field at YC&AC to play on! I'd like to say a special thanks to all the teams that took part, arrived on time and stayed for a beer or two afterwards, as well as the sponsors of today's event without them this tournament wouldn't be possible. I'd also like to thank my partners at Footy Japan Ltd. Paco, Jon and Leigh and a big thanks to our co-hosts YC&AC for the hard work and effort that went in their end to make this day such a success."
For more information about Footy Japan Ltd. organized events, competitions and tournaments please visit: www.footyjapan.com
