THE AMES Australia Multicultural Cup could become a regular fixture in Mildura following the success of the inaugural event at the weekend.
The round robin competition was aimed at encouraging people from migrant or refugee backgrounds to play the world game, especially those who were new to soccer.
Football Federation Sunraysia general manager Susan Watts was pleased with how the two-day event went.
“I would have loved to have a few more teams competing but the ones we had were fantastic,” she said.
“We even had one team come up from Melbourne in the Melbourne Afghan Soccer Association, which was a huge effort from their end.
“It’s now looking like it can go ahead again next year. I’ll have to talk to the FFS board to see how we can make it happen.”
Players past and new were involved from both a playing and spectator perspective, which gave Watts hope for the future of the event.
“I was really excited by the number of past players who came down for the event and had some sort of involvement,” she said.
“Potentially there might be scope to add an over 45 and an even an over 55 competition in the future. We really enjoyed seeing the camaraderie they had.
“It was all about introducing new players and showing them our ground and facilities. It was good to introduce a lot of new players who hopefully might join in with our Summer Sevens competition.
“It was really good to see that even within the teams, despite their different names, that there were people from different cultures playing together.”
FFS move into their Summer Sevens competition this week and are on the lookout for more teams, especially in the women’s division.
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AMES Australia Multicultural Cup results
OPEN MEN
Round 1: Afghan Boys d Viet Nam 2-1, Nichols Point d Antarctica 12-0, African Warriors d Melbourne Afghan Soccer Association (MASA) 4-1.
Round 2: African Warriors d Nichols Point 2-0, Afghan Boys d Antarctica 12-2, MASA d Viet Nam 4-1
Round 3: Viet Nam d Antarctica 62, Afghan Boys d African Warriors 1-0, Nichols Point d MASA 5-2
Round 4: African Warriors d Antarctica 15-1, Nichols Point d Viet Nam 3-1, Afghan Boys d MASA 5-1
Round 5: Afghan Boys d Nichols Point 9-3, Antarctica d MASA 12-0, African Warriors d Viet Nam 12-0.
OVERALL WINNERS: Afghan Boys
OPEN WOMEN
Sunraysia d Nichols Point 4-1
UNDER 14
Sunraysia d Afghan Boys 3-2
OVER 35
Hellas d Turkey 3-0
