Below is an article from the website of the charity Football Beyond Borders, about our first-ever football tournament.
A few weeks ago, 48 people turned up to play football and raise money for the charity. Their mission is to use football as an educational tool to inspire young people to achieve their goals and make their voices heard. On the day, it was great to witness such a diversity of skills playing together...yes, even some of our beginners were brave enough to put their training into action and experience the stress of competitive football! I really enjoyed organising the event and would like to thank everyone who got involved and especially the two referees, Sam and Alfie. I really hope to organise more events like this one in the near future. A well done to everybody who came as we raised £280 but please stop calling me a legend!!
On Sunday 13th January, Football Beyond Borders was the selected charity for Raphael Kopel’s 100th five-a-side football tournament. Raphael is continuing to grow as a well-respected presence in the London 5-a-side football space. He is a very passionate and dedicated football coach, committed to coaching adults of all levels as well as organising regular five-a-side tournaments for his participants.
Raphael’s journey started as a beginner-level adult player, trying to get involved in 5-a-side games around London. He found that he was not getting called back to games and realised that London lacked a safe space for adult beginners to play the game, hence he started his own adult coaching sessions. His coaching has since grown in popularity, with this 100th monthly tournament being testament to Raphael’s quality and commitment to coaching.
The tournament consisted of 8 teams split across two pitches, with the teams on the sidelines creating a vibrant atmosphere as they waited to play. There was plenty of friendly pitchside interactions between participants and Sam, who was Football Beyond Borders’ representative and referee for the day!
The palpable sense of community amongst the group of players has clearly not happened over night. It is the result of a continuous commitment towards participation from everyone involved. This sense of belonging embodies what Football Beyond Borders is all about and is something we seek to replicate on our five-a-side pitch outside our space in Brixton. The event raised £280 and will pay for two new participants to take part in our Easter holiday education programme. We look forward to building our relationship with Raphael and his participants, showing us all what it means to go beyond!
For more information about Raphael’s Football Coaching, go to www.football5asidecoaching.com or check out their Instagram @5asideforall.
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