Street League team returns victorious
How do you measure victory? Is it in goals scored, games won and trophies collected? Or is it not better counted in friends made, jokes shared and memories cemented? During Street Leagues recent participation at the second European Street Football Festival in Foca, Bosnia, we certainly celebrated a victorious event.
Competing in a fair play tournament without referees was always going to be a challenge for players raised on the frantic pace and competition of the English game, however; our mixed delegation of 8 young players from across London did the city proud and proved a popular team both on and off the pitch.
Played in the beautiful mountainous range of Foca, the week long trip included workshops delivered by Education for Peace to learn about emotional exchange, intercultural understanding, integration and positive conflict resolution in both sporting and real life settings.
Eventual congratulations went to Bosnian team Doboj who triumped in the main competition and to our English partner teams Dads Against Drugs/NACRO for winning the plate.
A massive thank you also is owed to Street Football World for organising the successful tournament and to all of the other 200 participants from 24 delegations across 16 European countries for their competition and friendship throughout.
So, if you measure an event purely on numbers alone, then no, we came back empty handed, but everyone that participated will remember hundreds of personal and team victories. And we all got a medal and a certificate.
Team Street League were: Frankie Strugnell, Kerrie-Ann Gee, Jordan Jacobs, Luisa Piras, Tim Tejuoso, Omer Oguz, Jack Gillett, Benn Kingsley-Joseph, Terry Pampling, Sophie Hope and Rob Reed.
