THE Sunraysia soccer community will come together on Saturday, all in the name of supporting the bushfire relief effort.
The Football For Fires tournament at Soccer Park will kick off at 3pm on Saturday and will feature players from all clubs banding together to raise funds.
Nichols Point Soccer Club president Roxanne Jones said the initative was the brainchild of Pointers player Jacquie Austin.
“She just out the blue came up with the idea of doing it and we just ran with it from there,” Jones said.
“We just thought it’s a great opportunity not only to support the bushfire relief, but for all the clubs to do something together rather than competing against each other.
“We are doing something as a soccer league rather than as individual clubs, which is a great opportunity for something social, great for kids to come and see everyone getting on and great for the supporters and the bushfire appeal.”
At least five pitches are expected to be in use for the men’s and women’s competitions.
The plan is for each club to provide a captain and each captain will pick a name from a bucket ensuring no loading of teams or choosing who they play with.
Every team playing will have at least one member of each club playing, with juniors encouraged to play if they are comfortable.
Jones said all the clubs had been fantastic in coming on board to support the event.
“We get great support during the year, we get great support from our sponsors and supporters, it’s just great to do something to give back and give them some fun. Hopefully it will give us a bit of more exposure to say ‘hey guys we are here’,” she said.
All funds will go to the fire brigade to be sent to where it is needed.
As well as on-the-pitch action there will be plenty of things to do off it, with bouncing castles, face painting, a police car for the children to look through and maybe a fire truck as well. There will also be raffles and other fundraisers with prizes to win.
Mallee Burger, a sausage sizzle, a coffee van and Football Federation Sunraysia’s canteen will also be open.
Entry to the event will be by gold coin donation. Player sign-in starts at 2pm.
