Tue, Jun 30, 2009 1:07:17
Leicester Football Tournament A Great Success.....Khalsa Football Federation
Great Opportunity For Professional Teams’ Scouts To Capture Young Sikh And Asian Football Talent..Manjit Singh Virdee
Singh Sabha Hounslow beat GSA Erith by two goals in the final of the Premier Division to win the Leicester football tournament held at Victoria Park, London Road, Leicester on 27th and 28th June 2009.
As in previous years members of the local teams FC Khalsa and GNG football club organised the annual tournament in which all rules and regulations of the Khalsa Football Federation were implemented.
After Coventry and Hounslow it was the city of Leicester who had the pleasure of hosting the festival of football which was watched by approximately 10,000 people in over which over 100 team participated over the weekend which had just about perfect football playing weather.
Senior games are always played on Saturdays with the Youth games and Semi finals and finals of the adults on Sundays. On Saturday 27th June all eight games in the kicked off at precisely 9.00 a.m.
In a very hard fought and extremely competitive final which was the repeat of the Hounslow tournament GSA Erith were aiming for their third successive Premier Division win this year whereas Singh Sabha Hounslow were attempting to beat the side to whom they had lost to in the final on 14th June.
In the end Singh Sabha Hounslow got their first Premier division final win of 2009. Singh Sabha Slough won the First Division; Shere Punjab Wolverhampton won the Second Division and Letchworth won the Third Division.
The manager of winners of the Premier Division Singh Sabha Hounslow Nilesh Gosai said “ The success of our team is due to our passing and movement when we have the ball. We base our play on keeping possession for as long as possible. We always try to play football by keeping the ball on the ground as long as possible and never try to rush. We train hard three times a week and lot of our success and credit is due to our coach Parminder Garcha”.
The honour of the Player of the tournament went to Jay Raj Jedeja of Singh Sabha Hounslow.
Explaining why he won the Man of the Match Jay pointed out “ The manager has installed confidence before the game. It is easy to play well in this team because the players play the game in the right way and always give 110%. I tried my hardest for the team and enjoyed every minute of the tournament. the team spirit and banter made it even more easy and enjoyable. This was my first full tournament and playing in the final made it extra special and I knew how to put 110% effort. I would like to thank the whole of Singh Sabha Hounslow Football Club for their support and thanks to Khalsa Football Federation for making it an unforgettable experience”.
Those who came to watch or support their teams included Aman Verma, a 21 year old midfielder who played for a number of years for FC Khalsa Leicester and is now signed by Championship side Leicester City, World Footballing Coach Terry Hall who is a former ‘Football in the Community ‘ coach at Leicester City Football Club, two youngsters playing at Leicester City Football Academy, one of the best footballers in Leicester who played as a forward for Sapna {the team everyone wanted to avoid in the tournaments} Shingara Singh Rai ‘Shanny’, and Kiranjit Singh Khatkar ‘Kooner’ who organised an excellent Vaisakhi Football Festival at Pride Park, Derby.
Kulvir Singh of FC Khalsa Leicester said “The Leicester tournament was very successful event with nearly 10,000 people watching it over the two days. It is an annual event for both the adults and youth sections with teams participating from length and breadth of the country. Success of the tournament is measured not only by the teams winning but the actual number of participating teams within both sections”.
The Leicester Football Tournament Co-ordinator Manjit Singh Virdee who loved to put the ball in the back of the net in his playing days commented “This has been the best tournament I have been involved in and it is a great opportunity for professional teams’ scouts to capture young Asian football talent”.
One onlooker who watched was present on both days said that the Leicester Tournament has been a wonderful festival of football, a celebration of Asian football at grassroots level.
YOUTH SECTION
The atmosphere for the Youth Section on Sundays at all the KFF football tournaments is so great, colourful, and family oriented that it really needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. In a similar sort of way to the ‘Play-Off ‘ in the professional game Youth teams who do not progress to the semi finals stage have a penalty shoot – out against each other. This is very popular and everyone converges around the goal area to see this and the player who scores or saves to win their team the penalty - shoot is usually found at the bottom of the ground and everyone else from his team on top of him.
In the first tournament held at Coventry – Smethwick Utd, Hounslow Colts and Sporting Khalsa Walsall won the Under 13s, Under 11s and Under 9s respectively. GAD Khalsa Derby, GNP Coventry, FC Khalsa Leicester won the penalty shoot – out for Under 15s, Under 13s and Under 11s.
In the Hounslow Tournament Singh Sabha Birmingham, Smethwick Utd, Hounslow Colts and GNP Coventry were the Under 15s, Under 13s, Under 11s and Under 9s winners respectively. FC Khalsa Leicester won the penalty – shoot out for the Under 15s and Under 13s. Smethwick Sikh Temple won the Under 11s.
The main match for the youth section was the Under 15s final which was a repeat of the Coventry Tournament and GNG Tigers Bedford played really attractive to watch football and were victorious against the local FC Khalsa Leicester team.
GNG Bedworth won all the KFF tournaments and the Bedford tournament in this youth group last year. This year they have been winners at Coventry and Leicester and were Runners Up at Hounslow. Their team manager Jadvinder Singh Nanda pointed out “ The level of football skills at the KFF tournaments in all age groups is good. The Leicester Tournament is well organised and played in good spirit. The success of our team is based on discipline, keeping the game simple, playing skillful football on the ground and enjoying it. If you do not enjoy playing football its not worth turning up”.
World Soccer Coach Terry Singh said “ The will, the passion we can see football will improve through better coaches – right from junior to senior level. yesterday while i was watching the adult games - it was not attractive football. We need to let the players be composed, relaxed and play simple football”.
One of the many Asian ladies who witnessed the youth games was Femina Ebrahim who came with her whole family and whose son plays for FC Khalsa Leicester commented “As a mother I came to watch the tournament for the first time. as well as having a fantastic time with impeccable hospitality it was amazing to see how much talent our children have. We need to continue to nurture their ability and encourage them to flourish. Well done to FC Khalsa of Leicester for the all their
hard work in training”.
On behalf of Leicester City Council Parks Services Jas Singh thanked the organisers for running the event smoothly and was pleased at the large number of young people enjoying themselves with their families.
Smethwick Sikh Temple Youth FC’s Malkit Singh Bahia said “ The football festival brings together the young Sikh community to enjoy themselves through sport and I would like to thank the Leicester Organising Committee for the work that it has put in”.
The General Secretary of Federation of Sikh Organisations Leicestershire Davinder Singh Dhesi said “ The tournament provided the opportunity for young talented footballers to showcase their talents in the presence of Scouts from Leicester City Football Club. The presence of so many families was most pleasing . We can break down barriers that discourage the participation of whole families in various sporting events”.
On behalf of Khalsa Football Federation Pritam Singh Mander, youth Secretary commented “ The Leicester tournament has been very well organised as it is every year. The football tournament has now become a family event with not only players and coaches, but also mums and sisters of the players. The football is played in good spirit by clubs from various communities across England.
Commenting on the two day football festival Kiranjit Singh Khatkar ‘Kooner’ of KFF saids “ The Leicester Tournament has been a huge success. The weather again was beautiful. We thank all the teams players, managers and supporters that have participated in this tournament. Also the KFF would like to thank the Leicester Organisers for making this tournament a success”.
RESULTS
ADULTS SECTION
PREMIER DIVISION
WINNERS ...................... SINGH SABHA HOUNSLOW
RUNNERS UP ................GSA ERITH
FIRST DIVISION
WINNERS.........................SINGH SABHA SLOUGH
RUNNERS UP...................GNG BEDFORD
SECOND DIVISION
WINNERS................SHERE PUNJAB WOLVERHAMPTON
RUNNERS UP..........FC SANDWELL
THIRD DIVISION
WINNERS .................LETCHWORTH
RUNNERS UP...........SMETHWICK UNITED
YOUTH SECTION
UNDER 15s
WINNERS..............GNG TIGERS BEDFORD
RUNNERS UP.......FC KHALSA LEICESTER
UNDER 13s
WINNERS..............GNG LEICESTER
RUNNERS UP........GNP COVENTRY
UNDER 11s
WINNERS...............GNG LEICESTER
RUNNERS UP.........SINGH SABHA HOUNSLOW
UNDER 9s
WINNERS................SPORTING KHALSA WALSALL
RUNNERS UP..........FC KHALSA LEICESTER
with thanks : source : http://www.emgonline.co.uk/news.php?news=6014
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