World Cup Football Festival
Swindon Borough Council's World Cup-themed Football Festival at Dorcan Recreation Complex was a great success!
Soccer legend John Barnes wowed spectators and players spending over two hours at the event. He did a fabulous Q&A session, played football with some of the girl's U10s players, signed hundreds of autographs, had his picture taken with anyone who asked and to the delight of the crowd sang the rap!
The event was a great opportunity to promote football in the community and provide a number of fun activities and tournaments for children in the town including:
- Street Soccer Skills Challenge
- Mini Soccer matches and taster sessions
- Girls U10s Tournament
- Cohesion Cup tournament made up of teams representing the diverse communities in Swindon
- Swindon Leopards vs STFC Football in the Community Select XI
McDonald’s held their open day at our event providing plenty of football fun, including:
- coaching sessions
- inflatable skills area
- speed of shot
- fruit bags and water
The football festival was aimed at boys, girls and young people aged three to 19 and the all-day event embraced the spirit of the World Cup.
The fun-packed day was supported by a number of organisations in the town and we would like to thank the following for their support and sponsorship:
- Mini soccer festival sponsored by Bliss Hair Salon
- Girls’ U10s five-a-side tournament sponsored by TRAK solutions
- Thamesdown Hydrotherapy Pool sponsored the exhibition match featuring Swindon Leopards and STFC Football in the Community select XI
- The Cohesion Cup tournament was sponsored by One-O-One
A football skills shelter, an inflatable pitch and a special skills area was also available on the day along with karting, power kiting and a futsal exhibition match.
Shane Hewlett, Football Development Officer for Swindon Borough Council, said: “John Barnes was fantastic and very sporting with spectators and players. Even the children who were far too young to remember him in his playing days were absolutely enthralled and John was very impressed with the festival and all the fantastic opportunities available to anyone who wants to play football here in Swindon.
“We would like to encourage more of the town's residents to engage in football activities improving the standard of football whilst also keeping fit.”
For further information on the football opportunities available in the town contact Shane Hewlett on (01793) 617718 or email him at shane@stfc-fitc.co.uk