A showdown of ethnic proportions: Winners of NZ Community Football Cup announced!
Media Release I 27 November 2017
In a celebration of ethnic diversity in New Zealand, nearly 400 football players representing countries from all over the world competed in the finals of this year’s NZ Community Football Cup (NZCFC) over the weekend, with all first place tournament winners hailing from Auckland.
Refugee Youth Action Network, Ruru Women's Team and South Auckland Youth were announced as the winners of the men’s, women’s and youth tournaments respectively. Over 1,000 regional football matches were played to find the finalists, with 36 teams vying for the winning titles at Centre Park in Mangere this weekend.
Tournament Director and Executive Director of the New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils, Tayo Agunlejika, says the ninth year of the Community Football Cup was another fantastic display of using sport as a tool to help break down cultural barriers.
“The Community Football Cup is all about celebrating cultural diversity in New Zealand, and bringing together teams from different cultures in the spirit of the game. It was a great day out for spectators, particularly children, many of whom took part in free football skills clinics over the weekend,” he says.
“It was fantastic to see the first ever youth tournament take place this year, with 10 under 13 teams joining the 10 women’s and 16 men’s teams at this year’s Community Football Cup. We are so lucky to have the support of so many incredible organisations who help make this event happen. A big huge thank you to all of our sponsors and supporters – New Zealand Police, New Zealand Football, Human Rights Commission, ANZ, Lion Foundation, New Zealand Community Trust and Four Winds Trust.”
Second and third place in the men's tournament were won by NZ Afar (Djibouti from Hamilton) and Ethio Lions (Waitakere). In the youth tournament, second place was won by New Zealand Police (Tauranga) and third was Central Spirit (Auckland). Kotuku Women's Team from Auckland took out second place in the women's tournament.
Want to take part next year? Head to facebook.com/nzcfc for information on all the local tournaments around the country and contact details.
Please click here for images of the tournament. For more information, please email to info@mnz.org.nz