If you were to walk by the Muckleneuck fields in Mamelodi the last weekend in September, you would recognize a few faces; you would also see over 200 talented young soccer players from over Africa decked out in flashy kits. Who are they? Where are they from? Why are they here? All good questions and worth asking seeing as each of these young men all have a story to tell.
September 23rd – 28th, 2009, Ambassadors in Sport organized the 2nd Annual Grimoldby Cup; a tournament put together for two reasons: for players from all areas to compete, perform, experience, and display their talent in comparison to other Clubs from different areas, but also to share with them the hope they can have in Jesus Christ.
The tournament consisted of five locals teams: Mamelodi A and B, Eersterust, Central Pretoria, Soshanguve, and five travelling teams, Surulereu and Union Bank (Nigeria), AIS Zambia, Ekaya (Durban), and Ebenezer (Port Elizabeth).
The travelling teams stayed at a local campsite where they lounged around, ate meals, hung out with other teams, fellowshipped with each other and our staff, and enjoyed nightly entertainment arranged by the AIS staff.
The tournament layout was 2 Groups of 5 teams with everyone playing each other team in their own Group, the top 2 teams from each Group then went on to play in the Semi- Finals, providing on the result, then the Final or 3rd Place Playoff. The teams who came 3rd and 4th in the Groups, played in the Plate Semi-Finals, then again providing on the result, play in the Plate Final or 7th Place Playoff. The teams who came 5th in every Group battled it out in a 9th Place Playoff.
The five day tournament was very competitive and produced some exciting games, most notably the semi-finals between the locals and the Nigerians. Mamelodi B made it out of Group A with the 1st seed and played the 2nd seed from Group B, Mamelodi A. Likewise the 1st seed from Group B, Surulere played Union Bank, the 2nd seed from Group A. In two close matches Mamelodi B and Surulere advanced to the Final.
In a thrilling game, Surulere upset the hometown heroes and crowd favorites, in a match that finished 1-1 after the full time whistle was blown. Extra time was then played, and after a brilliant long range strike, they were victorious with a 2-1 win.
Winners of the Grimoldby Cup 2009 – Surulere
Runners Up – Mamelodi B
3rd Place – Union Bank
Plate Winners – Ebenezer
Fair Play Winners – Ebenezer
A “Big” thank you to “Big Save” for sponsoring the event and providing lunches everyday and goody bags for all the players, coaches and referees.
