Photos: Courtesy of Wellington College Tianjin – Rasha Popovic
With a vision to create well-rounded individuals with strong values and skills to thrive within an ever-changing global society, Wellington College International Tianjin in tandem with Momentum Sports coordinated a Youth Football Tournament. It was hosted on the 13th of May at the Wellington College International Tianjin sports field. Seeing the success of the football tournament that commenced last year, the organizers wish to set up an annual event for the enthusiastic and trained players.
The tournament would not have been a success if not for the significant contributions by the sponsors. The players were also able to participate without a registration fee in a safe environment due to the services provided by the sponsors. Kelme provided the sports clothing and equipment such as the footballs, Chartwells provided scrumptious meal and drinks, CPIC insured all players and Raffles Medical provided medical services for the students.
The Youth Football Tournament comprised of 34 teams from 15 different schools, clubs and district football associations in Tianjin (such as the Champions Football School coached by Eelco Van Kuilenburg and Mehdi Jemli, and their team in Aocheng). In total there were approximately 300 children and 200 adults on campus either as spectators, coaches or proud parents cheering on their little ones.
The event commenced at 9am and culminated at around 6pm with the prize distribution for the winning teams by the Master of Wellington College International Tianjin, Mr. Julian Jeffrey. There were 21 rounds of matches, with 4 of them scheduled simultaneously summing up to a total of 84 matches played. Each match was 16 minutes with 5 team members; 1 keeper and 4 field players. The teams played under 4 categories. Boys under 8, 10, 12 and girls under 12 with the youngest competitor being 7 years old.
The results were as follows:
Boys Under 8:
1st Place: Xiqing Football Association
2nd Place: Ruihu
3rd Place: Boyue
4th Place: Champions Football School
Boys Under 10:
1st Place: Ruihu
2nd Place: Pengcheng
3rd Place: Huasai
4th Place: Xiqing Football Association
Boys Under 12:
1st Place: Xianyang Lu
2nd Place: Pengcheng
3rd Place: Huyi - Dongxing Primary School
4th Place: Wellington
Girls Under 12:
1st Place: Xiqing Football Association
2nd Place: Wellington A
3rd Place: Huyi - Dongxing Primary School
4th Place: Wellington B